All cause I fell in love
by masked-in-your-shadows
Summary: JimChris. UPDATE 2.3
1. Chp 1

"All right team, let's move!" Hondo yelled from outside the locker room, we all jogged lightly to the SWAT truck. A call had just come in, high school shooting, with a hostage situation. I hated this kind of call the most. When kids were involved, everything was tougher.

Our team had been off Fuller's shit list for almost a year now, and we had been getting a lot of action. The whole team seemed to grow up in front of my eyes. I remember them all as fresh meat, and me being the only seasoned SWAT member among them. But now, with the exception of Jesse, we were a seasoned SWAT team.

It was hard to fill TJ's place, and we hadn't had much luck at it. We had a new guy once a month practically. Then Jesse came along. Jesse Gaska had been on the force for less than a year, but Fuller said he was one of the best. Best test scores, best physical shape of all graduates, and best reasoning skills he had seen in a long time. Jesse seemed like an okay guy. He was just new to the SWAT thing. Only on the team about three weeks. He had the whole macho thing going, but I knew in my gut that if it came down to it, he would take a bullet for any one of us. But while I looked at him now, I didn't see any doubt in his eyes. He was stonewalled and confident, ready to take on what was coming.

"Mount up!" Hondo yelled from the front."Here's the situation. We're got a group of teenagers, six fully armed with automatic weapons. They have body armor, and are to be considered dangerous."

"Teenagers? Armed and dangerous? What is this shit Hondo?" Deke said, almost not believing it himself.

"Yeah Deke, they took the lunch room hostage. Apparantly, we already a number of wounded inside, no fatalities are recorded yet. You have to get inside fast, but safe. But these kids obviously have spent a long time planning, and they're gonna make it hard on us. The outside front entrance are wired with explosives, and the others are closely gaurded with automatic machinery. The only ways in are air vents, and the roof."

"Got it Hondo," Jesse stated,"What's our set up?"

"You and Deke will take the roof of the Lunch room, there's a workman's entrance that leads to the upper awnings that has been left open. Street, Boxer, you get us a video link, and then take posts by the entrance doors, Sanchez, you are the most crucial. You'll head up through the air vents. There's an opening that drops out next to the stage where our guys are conducting business. You have to drop out unseen, and give the signal to move out. Street, you cover her from the left door. Deke and Jesse will be on post in the lighting awnings, ready to shoot when you give the signal. Boxer, you have to take out the guards with the most non-lethal of a shot as you can get, and storm the doors to provide back up as neccesary."

"Got it," I replied, going over both the blue prints, and the plan in my mind. I had an easy part this time, link to video, and gaurd the doors. Easy enough. Sanchez looked anxious as she studied the prints closer. I gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Chris, just count the vents," She smirked back at me, as if to say, easier said than done. She pulled out her picture of Eliza, and gave it a quick kiss before stuffing it back under her vest. I have a lot of respect for that, doing this kind of shit everyday for your kid. That girl has one hell of a mom.

"Aright, Let's rock and roll," Deke bounced lightly on his feet, he was obviously getting the adrenalin buzz already.

"Yeah lets do this!" Jesse said. We streamed out of the van, each of us heading off in our respective directions. Boxer and Me got the video link done in about four seconds, and took our posts outside the cafeteria doors. One of us on either side of the building.

It was a long, and nerve wracking wait. This plan was kind of iffy, but it was all we had. Periodically, Hondo's voice would sound over the radios, and the only ones who were in a place to respond were myself and Boxer. I watched Chris drop slowly and undetected into the room. Her hand went up, and motioned forward. The signal, Hondo thundered over the radio.

"Street Boxer, Move move move!" I raised my gun, and kicked open the door, and threw a tear gas canister. A metallic thud sounded as gun hit the floor. I moved quickly, with my gun still raised, and founded a kid on the ground clawing at his eyes. I kneeled down, and shoved my knee ito his back as I cuffed him one-handed, keeping my gun raised and eyes up.

"Got One," I called over the radio. Seconds later Boxer sounded over the radios.

"Two more down," He called out. Half of them down. I moved slowly out to the open cafeteria, as gunshots fired. THere must have been sixty or seventy kids in the lunch room, lying belly first on the ground. No one screamed, they were past that kind of fear. The boy shooting off rounds locked eyes with mine, and stopped to reload, he never took his eyes off me, I checked my clip, and realized I had to reload. I couldn't reach for my clip, and reload faster than this guy. His hand was second away from grasping the trigger. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chris rifle off a shot with her MP-5. The boy's gun clattered to the ground, and he fell to the gound clutching his leg. Chris sounded off. Four down, two more. A girl fell to the gound in the back, gun in hand. Jesse was next to call out on the radio.

"Fifth man down."

"Explosives disabled," Boxer called again.

One kid left. They were well hidden, I saw no signs of activity. Then, a rustling in the back of the room caught my attention. There was a boy in the back moving around. His back was to me and Chris, who had arrived by my side, gun up. I called out.

"You in the back, turn around with you hands up," as I yelled, my fingers tensed around the trigger. The boy whipped around, launching off a round at the same time. Chris and I both pulled our triggers, only to hit the wall behind the fallen gunman. He had already been shot. I didn't see which direction it came from, and stood silently for more than a few seconds, listening for someone to sound out. What if there was a gunman we didn't catch? Finally, a voice came across the radio.

"All clear," Deke sounded off. Isighed in relief. Chris loosened up next to me. We both must have thought the same thing.

"Clear," Chris's voice called.

"Clear," Jesse sounded next, he sounded, like always, clear and confident.

"Clear," Boxer called in his cocky style.

"Street?" Hondo asked over radio.

"All clear in here Hondo," I said somewhat shakily. That was some crazy shit.

I surveyed the crowd and saw Chris. She was next to a boy about eighteen who was badly hit, trying to comfort him. He took it twice in the left shoulder. Chris knew what that was like. A kid no more than fifteen was up against the wall, blood pooling at his feet from a shot in the shin. Otherwise, the group seemed ok.

"I need two RA units, for hostages with gun shot wounds" Chris's usually strong voice shook across the radio. The medics came streaming through the doors, and they took the kids to safety. The rest of the cafeteria was cleared out by local PD.

"Good work out there you guys." No one replied to Hondo's comment, we were all coming off an adrenalin high and were wiped. We were done. Fuller sent in other teams to search the school Chris pulled out her picture of Eliza again, and just stared at it. I wanted to get inside her head and figure out what she was thinking.

"Sanchez," I whispered softly. She looked up at me and swallowed hard.

"What drives kids to do that Jim? Why do they do that to other kids? Nobody's safe. It makes me wanna go take Eliza and never let her go." She laughed to try and push away tears that were threatening to spill over.

"Hey, those kids weren't in their right minds Chris. They weren't thinking straight. You know, the normal population won't go psycho like that." I didn't want her to cry. It wouldn't be right; it would be awkward. The one thing that got to her like that was Eliza.

"Yeah I know Jim," she said as she stood up, and brushed it off. "Just another job, right?"

"Right"

We all piled back into the truck and headed home. That was enough to deal with for a day. I took a cab to the bar, and downed a couple of Guinesses before calling another cab back home. I crashed out on the couch, and tried to forget the day.


	2. Chp 2

AN: thanks for all the good responses. I decided to put up another chapter. I've written a whole bunch but don't knowif I should keep it the way it is, or go in a whole different direction. Tell me if you like what you see, and if I should continue or not. Tell me if you don't like what you see too, response is always awesome.

I woke up to Rizzo licking my nose. That's how I woke up everyday, so just because it's the day I finally have off after weeks straight, why would it be any different? Five in the morning, on a Thursday, and I still couldn't get any sleep. Crazy dog. I was about to put her outside and go back to bed when I realized that I was already up, so why not just get started. Me and Rizzo went out on a run on the beach like normal, about six miles, and then I took her back home, before I headed out to the gym. I got an hour in there, and went back home to grab a shower and change.

It was eight o' clock by then, and I figured I would just hang around all day. I watched about twenty minutes of ESPN before I was bored out of my mind. I needed to get out of the house, but, the only problem was, I have no friends except for SWAT. None of them would be up yet, so I just pulled my bike out and went on a ride.

It was nice. I weaved in and out of the bike lane, not caring about anything except whether or not I was going to turn left or right. I got caught up in my thoughts, and found myself thinking about what had happened the day before. Chris had really saved my ass. That guy wanted to tear me up and down into peices. He was reloading just for me, I could tell. She had seen too. I was broken from my thoughts as I slammed into something hard. I fell to the pavement, unaware of exactly what had just happened. I stood up to find thatI had ridden directly into a car. A parked car. I looked around to see if anyone else had seen. Then I realized I was at Chris's house. Why? I dont know. But there I was, an idiot standing next to a Honda Civic, holding my head, and laughing at the fact that I had just rammed a parked car with my bicycle. Another familiar laugh rang out.

"Having some issues there Street?" Chris laughed from her front porch.

"Ah...what can I say, speechless," I said as I shrugged my shoulders and grinned. She laughed again.

"Yeah? So what brings you here on our day off?" She said. I figured she would ask me that.

"I...don't..exactly know..." I trailed off, rubbing my head.

"Well, Eliza's at school, you wanna hang out? Preferably not on the bike..."She said, smirking back at me.

"Sounds good to me," I said,"But first, could I wash the gravel out of my palms. That'd be nice."

"Yeah, go ahead, you can come in, you remember where the bathroom is right?"

"Yeah," I said as I walked up fer front porch holding my raw hands in front of me, palms up. They had that weird burning feeling.

I walked into Chris's house, remembering how much I loved the smell. It smelled a lot more feminine than I was used to, and I liked it. I headed down the hall towards the bathroom. I was still laughing to myself over the circumstances. What was I doing in Chris's house? Sure, we had gone and hung out a lot, and I had gone inside, but Eliza was always there. It seemed different, because we were alone. I finished rinsing the dirt and rocks off my hands, and I was going to go back to the front of the house, but a picture in the hall way caught my eye.

It was Chris and Eliza. Eliza was laughing hysterically and pointing at something just beyond the edge of the paper, and Chris was laughing at her daughters giddiness. It must have been about a year old now, because Chris's arm was up in a sling, and wrapped in white gauze. It was right after the Montel incident; right after she got shot. She looked so happy, just happy to be with her daughter. It was beautiful.

"Nice picture huh?" Chris whispered, making me jump about a mile out of my shoes. She laughed and grinned at me.

"Jumpy?"

Naw, it's not like that Chris, you just...caught me by surprise," I muttered, trying to keep the smallest peice of my machoism.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you keep telling yourself that Jim." She laughed again, and the turned her attention back to the photo.

"Yeah, I think she was laughing at the guy across the street." She said," If I remember right, his leaf blower was...malfunctioning." We both laughed at that, and I caught the tone of her voice, it wasn't loud and annoying like most laughs were to me, it was like music to my ears.

"So, what do you wanna do?" I asked.

"Anything, as long as I am home by three to pick Eliza up from school." she said, and then thought quickly and added, "and sober."

"Yeah, well that pretty much rules out anything I was thinking." I said, almost totally serious.

"We could just drive around and stop when something looks good," Chris offered. That was the best idea I had heard all day.

"Sounds perfect,"I said, and flashed her a smile. I caught myself as I bared the pearly whites. What was I doing? That was my pretty boy smile, and Chris was my partner. I have to keep myself in control.

"Lets go." She said, and we headed out to her Civic. I pulled the seatbelt across my chest, and decided minutes later that it was a good idea to do so. Chris drove like a maniac. We were maintaining at about a hundred twenty, and I was scared out of my mind. She took one look at me, and laughed. She eased up on the gas, and I calmed down a little.

"Sanchez...you don't drive like this with Eliza in the car do you?" I asked.

"No way Jimmy boy, never. I'm not a bad mom like that." She said, and her head turned to the left, and she slammed the brakes to slow down, and took the next U- turn. She must have found where she wanted to go. Chris eased us into a parking place, and I looked up. There were too many signs to know exactly where Chris wanted to go.

"Hey, Chris, where are we going?" I asked.

"Subway man, I'm hungry." She said, as she pulled out of the car. I chuckled to my self. Leave it to Chris to drive guided by her stomach. "Lets eat some grub"

We ordered some food, and sat down to eat. We talked about random stupid things, like we always did. Since the rest of the time we spent together, we were either shooting up criminals, or getting our asses kicked in training, or bored as hell working extra hours on traffic duty, the light conversation was a nice distraction. But while we sat, I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous she was. Not in that skanky, stuck up way, but in the, normal, and fuckingest toughest girl to ever kick your ass. She was fierce, but funny and soft when you get down to it. Her eyes saddened, and the conversation turned heavy.

"Man, Jim, yesterday, that was some pretty heavy stuff. I mean, that was just...crazy you know?" she said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"That's really messing with you isn't it?" I said, not wanting to see her upset. I put my hand under her chin, and lifted her face to mine. "Chris, listen to me, those kids were crazy, drugged up and angry at the world. They didn't know what they were doing, and, sad as it is, that's what it takes for all of us to learn how dangerous the world really is you know?" Her face hardened, and she brushed my hand away.

"How's that gonna keep Eliza safe? I don't want her to have to deal with all the psychos in the world." Chris sighed.

"That's what it is, this is all about Eliza. Chris, she's a good kid, just keep your eye on her, and keep her outta trouble. Don't worry about her. She'll do fine."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good, I needed somebody else to tell me that, because, even if she was a crack whore, god forbid, I would still love her to death." Chris said, and her face cracked into a grin. I almost kissed her, right there. She was so perfect. She laughed, and I broke out in nervous laughter, but I don't think she noticed.

"All right," I said as I stood up and shook out my legs, picking up the trash to throw away." What are we doing next?"

"I don't know Street, whatever comes next," Chris laughed, pulling her keys out of her pocket and walking towards the car.

Me and Chris didn't really do much, we kinda just drove around, laughing at people, ugly cars, and pretty much anything remotely funny. In no time, it was almost three, so we drove, actually, more like flew the way Chris drives, to Eliza's school. We were early, and we just waited around for about five or ten minutes before the bell rang, didn't say much. Then the bell sounded and a flood of kids came running out of classrooms, and I don't know how she did it, but Chris walked right up into the crowd, and picked out Eliza, in seconds flat. Eliza looked a little puzzled, but happy to see me.

"Hi Jim." She wrapped her arms around me for a hug. I smiled, and returned the gesture. Eliza pulled away and cocked her head to one side, and asked us a question.

"What were you guys doing?" She said, curious.

"Nothing mija, we were just hanging out." Chris answered , laughing at the funny face Eliza was making. I don't think she believed us, but that was the truth.

"So how was school?" I asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Fine I guess, the same as always." Eliza said. We walked slowly through the mass of kids towards the car parked a block away.

"Yeah, what did you do?" Chris asked again, giving me a look showing the same feeling that things would be awkward if we didn't talk.

"Nothing really, just work." Eliza said. "Oh wow, look at the car over there," she said, her face lighting up,"It's an old Charger."

"Yeah, a beautiful car." I said, in awe as a 1970 Dodge Charger drove by. It was jet black, and obviously muscled out. Beautiful, just beautiful. "You know, Eliza, most kids I know would have had no clue as to what kind of car that was. How did you know that was a Charger?"

"My mama teaches me all about cars," she said, her face beaming from the compliment.

"Is that right?" I said as I looked up Chris's way. As her partner for over a year now, of course I knew Chris liked cars, but I didn't ever think about the fact that she might have taught Eliza anything. But, of course she would, it's Chris we're talking about here.

"Oh yeah, ask her anything, Eliza is pro when it comes to vintage american muscle." Chris said. Eliza was nodding her head proudly. I thought hard, and then asked her a question nobody could answer.

"Ok...hmm...you know who Steve McQueen is right?" I asked. Eliza nodded.

"Well, what year was his Charger when he was Bullit?"

"Easy, 1968" Eliza said. I was blown away. No other kid would know that off the top of their head.

"I am impressed," I said.

"You should be," Chris said, smirking in my direction. We arrived at her car, and Eliza immediatly called shotgun, and I wasn't one to break the shotgun rules, so she got the front seat, and I was stuffed in the back, but was having no problem with it. We pretty much kept talking cars on the way to my apartment, where Chris dropped me off.

"Hey Street," she called from through the passenger's side window as I was walking away.

"Yeah?" I said, turning to face her.

"Wanna take traffic with me tomorrow after training? I need some extra hours, and I don't wanna go it alone, it gets boring."

"Sure, no problem Chris," I said, happy at the fact that she wanted me to tag along.

"Ok, later then, Jim"

"See ya Sanchez."

"Bye Jim," Eliza's voice called out as they drove away.

I walked up the stairs, and unlocked the door,only to be tackled by Rizzo seconds afterwards. I picked myself up off the ground, and laughed. I patted her on the back, and walked in. It was good to be home, but I missed being around Chris. She was what I wants now, I wanted to be here, with her. I laid down on my bed to just chill, and realized that I left my bike at her house. That was perfect, because now I had an excuse to go back. I got lost in my thoughts of Chris, only to be brought back by the sound of Rizzo licking my face. She gave me the look that said "Please feed me Jim." I got up, and took care of that, and sat down to watch some TV. I ended up watching some made for TV movie on Lifetime, it was boring, couldn't really tell you what it was about. I channelsurfed a little more, and watched some cartoons, I have to say, I enjoyed it. My stomach started growling, and I went to the kitchen for some chow. I made myself some spaghetti, and watched some more cartoons until it was about elven, and then I hit the sack, dreaming of Chris all night.


	3. Chp 3

AN: I just realized I forgot my dislcaimer so you know the drill, don't own, don't sue. Thanks for all the positive reviews. I'll update as much as possible now. It seems like the story is going pretty good.

The warm tounge on my nose woke me up right in the middle of the most awesome dream. I was drag racing in the Charger we had seen the day before, and Chris was in the passenger seat. We won of course, and then she leaned in to kiss me. Her lips were just about to touch mine when Rizzo pulled me from my dream.

I got showered and left for work ten minutes earlier than usual, just because I could. I got there, and just screwed around in the locker room waiting for the team to show. Jesse was first.

"How you doing man?" He called to me, setting down his backpack.

"Im good, how bout yourself?" I replied.

"Honestly, not feeling so hot. I went partying last night, and let's just say that alchohol is addicting." He mumbled. I laughed.

"Burnt toast'll cure ya. It always does the trick."

"Really? never tried it." He looked thoughtfully up at me with his sunken face. "You think the break room has a toaster?"

"Yeah, back corner of the bottom cabinet," I said, laughing again.

"You're a lifesaver dude." Jesse said as he walked quickly in the direction of the break room. "If Hondo shows up before I get back, then tell him I had to pee" He added.

"No problem man, I called back. I took a look at my watch, and pulled my boots on. It was time to get ready to work.

"Hey Jim," Her voice called from behind me. It was so perfect it it's uniqueness. No one sounded like her, and no one ever would.

"Hey Chris, what's up?" I replied, as cooly as I could.

"Not much, how bout you?" she said, opening up her locker and pulling on her work shirt over the tank she already had on.

"Yeah, pretty much nothing, Hondo said we were gonna get outta here earlier than usual, he's got some thing to go to, so we're gonna have some extra time to make extra cash."

"Sweet, I need the money man." Was it my imagination, or was Chris happy to be with me?

"All right dude, I give, gimme some space to breathe." Deke said as he fell out of the closet. Boxer came chuckling out behind him.

"I told you you couldn't hack it."

"No way dawg, it smelled like foot in there, one more second and I woulda barfed."

"What the hell were you doing in there?" I asked, blown away by the fact that Deke and Boxer had just come tumbling out of the supply closet. By the looks of it, they had been in their for quite some time.

"Yeah, why were you guys in the closet together, got something you wanna tell us?" Chris said, smirking.

"Aw hell no, I ain't like that Sanchez, I'm married," Deke said, obivously grossed out by the fact that someone would even consider him liking Boxer.

"Yeah, Deke? No way in hell," Boxer said as he walked towards his locker, and got changed for training.

"So what in the hell were you doing in there?" I asked, still confused as hell.

"Simple," Deke said, grinning," Boxer and me were talking about how funky that supply closet smells, and he ended up betting me a hundred bucks that I couldn't stay in their from last night, till the team came to work today. He stayed to make sure I didn't leave."

"For real?" Chris asked, her eyes wide with amazement. "You were in that stanky old closet all night? You guys are crazy. Fucking crazy."

"Yeah," Deke smiled," I'm crazy, and a hundred bucks richer."

"No way you are not," Boxer said, dropping his shirt on the ground." Jesse aint here yet."

I laughed,"Yeah he is Box, boy's got a hangover, and went to get some burnt toast to cure it."

"God damn it, my wife is gonna kill me for losing another bet." Boxer said as he slammed the door to his locker shut and walked out to the shooting range.

"I dont know what his problem is, but lets head to the range. I gotta be outta here in about four hours." Hondo said, ducking his head through the door. We filed out, and headed to the range.

"Hey Street, I think Hondo's going soft," Jesse yelled to me as we walked into the locker room. We were done with training and Hondo hadn't worked us very hard. We did a couple formations, and some target practice. Otherwise, we ran about two miles, nothing. I had barely broken a sweat.

"No way, I think he wanted to stay fresh for the thing he had to leave for." I called back to him as I pulled my shirt over my head. I put on my blues for the traffic shift me and Chris were taking. I almost put on my vest, then remembered that you don't wear vests on traffic duty. I laughed and hung it back on it's hook in my locker, and walked outside the door, and waited for Chris. She walked out lugging her SWAT vest and helmet.

"What are you doing Chris? We're doing traffic, it's not like escorting dirty criminals." I said. She gave me the eyebrow.

"I'm just gonna put it in the trunk in case we go on a call while we're out. I don't know, I just wanna be prepared."

"Yeah yeah yeah, if that's what they call paranoia then," I teased her, she just glared back. I was scared for a second that I had offended her, but then her face softened and she laughed. I sighed in relief. I did not need to piss Chris off when we were about to take an eight hour shift together.

"Whatever man, It's going in the trunk." She said as she walked towards our squad car. She popped the trunk, and put the vest in next to the standard issue vests along the side of the trunk. I started the engine, and she jumped in. We were off to save the world from all those dirty fools speeding and running stop signs.

Normally, shifts like this would piss me off, but being with Chris made things easier. It was nice just talking about nothing again. I dont even know what we said. I was too busy watching her face watching her expressoins and admiring her in general. She was beautiful in every way I could figure. And she was a great person.

"Jim!" she exasperated. I shook my head, surprised I tuned out that much.

"yeah. Yeah? Chris. what?" I stuttered. She looked like wild. Something was happening.

"Our beepers have been going off for like two minutes dude, and you didn't do anything." She said, a little calmer now that I was listening again. I looked down at my beeper and code told me that It was a very urgnet, hostage situation shoot out and we were to get there as soon as now."Are you ok?"

"Yeah, Let's roll." I said as we peeled out with our flashers on.

"Fuck Jim, we haven't got time to stop and get our gear." She cursed almost silently in spanish. She was right. All we had were her ballistics vest in the back and the two standards. That wasnt enough for the two of us. We turned our flashers off as we approached the scene. There were automatic shots going off and an ambulance raced past. This was bad. It looked like a botched drug bust. A lot of guys went down, and the criminals were running all around shooting off rounds on automatics, ak-47's and the like. It was crazy. We parked up about a block, and pulled out the vests, and ran our asses off, not even bothering to put the vests on. We hit the SWAT bus at full speed, nearly smashing into the side.

"Where is your gear?" Hondo yelled, looking at what we brought. I shrugged, saying,

"We didn't have time Hondo."

He sighed, and said, "Well, we'll take what we have. You gotta be really careful in there, now suit up."

Chris turned to me and pressed the ballistics vest and helmet into my chest.

"Street, don't even try and tell me no, but you know you are going in there to lead this thing, and you're gonna be in front. You need more protection, take it." She stated, and turned to put on the standard. She had the kid at home, she had someone to go home to. I didn't have anyone to worry about me, except her apparantly.

"No...Sanchez...I don't know," I sighed. She put her hand up to stop me.

"No, Jim, you put the vest on. I'll be fine." She already had hers on, and and walked over to Hondo, he handed her a helmet, the only peice of real protection she had. I pulled the vest on and cinched it to my chest. I wasn't gonna fight with her, Sanchez always wins her battles.

"Ok, our job is to get in there and take out the main dealer and retrieve our men on the inside. We're going in by chopper. Street, your heading the team. Take up the front, and Sanchez, you're right behind him. Deke, you cover the rear. Boxer and Jess, you're gona be the wingmen on the sides taking out anyone who even gets close to the team. It's gonna be really sketchy in there, so stay tight and watch your backs." Hondo commanded as we went over the plans of the house. The head honcho had himself walled into the center room of the house. It wasn't a very big house, so navigation wouldn't be too hard, but no one had gotten close to the inside except our boys taken hostage. We didn't know what would be waiting for us.


	4. Chp 4

"Lets move!" Hondo shouted. We shot up in the coptor, and were dropped on the roof. We went in through a hatch on the top of the building and stuck close together. A shot went off periodically to take out someone going at us. We made our way through the first and second rooms without trouble.

In the third one,was where trouble was waiting. Boxer pushed Chris out of the way and took her position I didn't see but I figured that she went back to his. Shots came at every angle. There were at least twenty guys in there. I scanned the room while I fired off shots. My eyes zoned into a tall guy frantically trying to get his shit together and get out of there. He was our man. Two guys from the department were tied up on the ground. I raised my gun to shoot our man, and a round of shots rang out right behind me.

I focused in my sight and zoned in on him. More shots went off. Someone was yelling loudly in the background, but nothing came over the radio. More shots went off, and the shouts in the background intensified. I squeezed the trigger, and the big man went down. I released my death grip on the trigger, still focused on nothing but getting the job done, and ran for the hostages. Thugs were pouring into the room. I untied the guys, yelled in their faces,

"We gotta move, NOW!"

A sick thud went off in my vest and knocked my to my face, I scrambled back to my feet. I knew that I had just been hit, but my vest stopped it. Thank god for Kevlar. I turned to the team and froze. My blood turned to ice. Boxer and Jesse were shooting out at everybody, bodies dropping like flies to the floor. Deke was kneeling on the ground, screaming into the radio.

"Officer Down, Officer Down!"


	5. Chp 5

Didnt want to leave you naging like that. So here's the next chapter, and I was thinking about changing this stuff up, but I figured that what I wrote is what I wrote and if you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't. So review for me you guys, good or bad is welcome.

It was Chris. It could only be Chris. Everone else was up and shooting. I pulled our hostages up to their feet roughly, and we peeled out of there. Deke carrying Chris in his arms, Boxer and Jesse taking the back, shooting out anyone who moved. I went up the hatch, Chris was passed into my arms, and everyone else came up. I looked at her, and saw that she had been hit badly, very badly.

Her vest had been shot to bits. It's bullet-ridden plates were cracked, and the bullets had found their way through. She had taken two to the body, and another to her left shin and right upper arm. Blood was all over the place. It had already covered my shirt. I was so scared. She couldn't die, I loved her too much. The chopper came down to the rooftop, and we all scrambled inside.

Chris was placed safely in the middle of the floor and I pulled the useless vest off of her, and ripped the blue police shirt off exposing her white tank, now stained red. It was gruesome. I took the police shirt and pressed in against the gaping hole on the her left side, about half way down. It was pouring blood. I looked up to her face, and saw her eyes were open.

"Chris, stay with me," I said. " Keep your eyes open. Look at me girl, don't you dare let your eyes close." She nodded shortly, and her eyes winced, and then drooped, but didn't close.

"That's the way Sanchez, just keep looking at me, here, take my hand," I said as I awkwardly slipped my hand into hers. There was so much blood, and I was afraid she wouldn't even make it to the ambulance. I maintained as much pressure as possible, but I felt ribs moving in ways they shouldn't have, so I had to be very careful of hurting her in more ways than she already was hurt.

"Think about your baby Chris, think about Eliza," Deke said as he patted her pale face. She was shaking terribly, and loosing blood fast. I just sat there, holding her hand and pressing against the flood of blood. Jesse was doing the same at the other shot about four inches below her right shoulder. Deke was up at her face, comforting her as much as he could. Boxer was by Chris's left leg, tying his belt around it to slow the blood flow. I could tell that she was beyond hurting. I had never seen so much blood since Brian's head got taken off by the train.

"Hold on Chris," I whispered. Her hand squeezed mine weakly. The chopper touched us down to the ground, and we waited for a stretcher or something to come to the helicoptor. It didn't. Deke's radio call must not have been heard or something. I looked down at his waist realizing that his radio had been blown to peices.

"Deke, they don't know about her," I whispered hoarsly as I pointed down at his waist. He looked down and became angry when he saw the the radio.

"They never fucking heard. Damn it!" He hissed angrily. Jesse picked up his radio.

"This is seventy-five David we have an officer down. I repeat officer down. Requesting an RA unit at the Helicoptor." He calmly stated into the radio.

Deke looked down at Chris who's eyelids were sinking down. He held her head in his hands and whispered.

"You gotta hold on baby girl, fight it. Stay with me, Chris. Think about Eliza, see her face in your head. Help will be here soon."

In about the longest minute of my life, the paramedics got there. One pulled the backboard out and under her. They both had grim, ashy faces. It was bad, but she wouldn't let go of my hand. I was running along side the stretcher when they were sprinting her towards the ambulance.

They worked furiously on her. Trying to stem bleeding and control the possible damage occuring with each of her breaths. They gave her oxygen. The whole while, her hand stayed in mine. Then, it went limp. Angry beeps came from the monitors on her. I got pushed aside, and her hand pulled away. She stopped breathing.

"How much longer till we get there?" One paramedic screamed to the driver while the other started breathing into Chris's mouth. They were trying to get her started again.

"Four minutes, give or take." The driver said back.

The calmer steady beeping started up again. The medic who was doing CPR was replaced by a breathing tube and constant oxygen. We came to a controlled yet abprupt stop at the emergency room. They pushed her out of my reach so fast I couldn't even take a last look at her. It was just , BAM! they're gone. I didn't know what to do now. I fell back against the wall, and slid down it, before sitting down on the floor. I pulled my head into my hands. I was gonna be sick. I had Chris's blood all over me. Tears slid down my face. I needed her to be ok. She didn't know how I felt about her. I needed to be able to tell her that I loved her. I needed to hold her.

Angry sobs wracked my body. It wasn't fair. I shouldn't have taken the vest from her. I should have pressed her harder to take it back. It was all my fault. The tears grew slower, and I wiped my face.

"You done?" A deep voice asked from above. I looked up and saw Hondo offering his hand to me. I took it and pulled myself up.

"Do you know anything yet?" He asked. I shook my head. He led the way to the waiting room, and into a corner where the team was waiting. At the sound of our footsteps, Jesse instantly looked up.

"They tell you anything?" He asked, his face stricken with worry. I shook my head and wiped at my eyes. Tears were threatening to fall again. I turned away from them. Deke stood up and wrapped his arms around me in a brotherly hug. I almost broke down again. Hondo placed his hand on my shoulder, and he just nodded. Jesse spoke up first.

"It was my fault, I should have covered her better." He cried. I couldn't believe what he had said until I heard Deke.

"You didn't do nothing Jess, I was right there. If I had watched better, I would have seen the guy aiming for her before he emptied a clip in her vest." He said between sobs. Boxer shook his head and stared off into space.

"No you guys, it wasn't either of your faults. I was the one who pushed her out of position. She would have been fine where she was." He said with a dazed tone in his voice.

"I don't believe you guys, none of you did anything wrong," I said " If anyone is to blame, It's me. I took her vest. I took the ballistics vest, and left her with a standard. I should have let her keep it. I can't think of anybody but myself. What am I gonna tell Eliza?" I sobbed. Chris might not come home and the guys were blaming themselves when I knew it was my fault.

"You all gotta stop blaming yourselves," Hondo said softly, something I had never heard him do before. "Sanchez is a fighter, she'll pull through. And she definantly wouldn't want you all out here crying over who's fault it was."

Boxer, Deke, and Jesse nodded solemnly. I did the same. What had gone happened today? Was it just bad luck, or did one of us do something wrong? My head screamed questions that had no answers. A dull ache slowly fazed into my brain. I had to get Eliza. She needed to be here for her mama. I stood up a quickly, and Hondo looked up at me.

"I'll be back," I muttered as I stormed out the automatic doors.


	6. Chp 6

Enjoy.

I was a man on a mission. I looked down at myself and realized I was covered in Chris's blood. I looked at the vest I had just taken from my body, and saw the deep crack through the center of the plate. I searched through the squad car for a shirt while I ripped the bloody one from my body. Shivers ran up and down my spine. I didn't find anything, so I decided to screw it and go shirtless. I needed to get to Eliza.

I started up the squad car Hondo had taken the team to the hospital in, and drove off towards her house. I didn't know how I was going to tell her, but I knew I was the only one who could tell Eliza this. I spent the whole half hour drive trying to find the right words to say. I slowly pulled up to Chris's house, turned the key and killed the engine. The trip up the front walk way was the longest I had take in months. At least it felt like it. Slowly, I laid my fist against the door, sounding off a gentle knock. A small pair of feet scurried up to the surface of the door behind the wood. I heard something scratching against the floor, and realized Eliza was pulling a chair up to the door to see through the peephole.

"Who is it?" Her little voice squeaked.

"It's Jim, Eliza," My voice called back. It didn't sound like me. I looked down at myself to reassure that I was as I normally was. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. How could I talk to Eliza like this? I had barely wiped the tears from my face before the door squeaked open.

"Hi Jimmy, where's my mami?" She asked, her face puzzled by my solo appearance.

"I have to talk to you about that Eliza," I said softly as I knelt down to look the small girl in the eye. She was so much like her mother, physically small, but with a fire in her eyes. I smiled a sad little grin and looked at the brown eyes staring back at me.

"Is she okay?" She asked again. For an eight year old, she seemed to have a great sense of awareness, she knew what I had to say was not going to be good. I could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. The delicate waverings revealing every thought crossing her mind.

"Eliza," I sighed, mybrain was drawing a blank. She put her small hand up to my mouth and just took my hand.

"Jimmy, you don't look happy, and that means it's bad news, and I don't want to hear anything that's bad about my mama." Eliza whispered. She was so sweet, I have never met a kid like Eliza. I nodded my head and pushed away the tears stinging my eyes.

"Eliza, you really need to know this though." I said, my voice cracking. I sat on the front porch and pulled her into my lap.

"Your mama got shot. It was an accident, but it was really bad babe." I said, tears spilling over the end. She sighed deeply and leaned into my bare chest.

"I knew it was gonna be something like that," She whispered and then turned her face into my shoulder, and silent tears streaming down her face.

I held her like she was my own blood, because I felt for that little girl. I knew what she was going throught because I am as much in love with her mother as I could ever be. She cried, and I pulled the front door shut. I took the key from under the mat and locked the door. We slowly walked out to the squad car, and I sat down in the drivers seat still holding Eliza. We didn't drive just yet. I held as she cried, and tears streamed down my own face. It wasn't fucking fair to make Eliza have to feel so sad. She didn't deserve it.

I felt her breaths returning to somewhat normal. She wasn't crying as much, so I set her into the passenger's seat and buckled her up. The last thing I needed was an accident, soI put the car in drive and drove slowly and carefully, all while staring down at the little girl riding next to me. Her head rested on the glass and silent tears rolled down her cheeks. I put my hand out and rested it on top of hers. She didn't seem to notice me.

We drove silently to the hospital, and as I shut off the engine, Eliza turned to me, big brown eyes rimmed in red, and for a second, her eyes and mine locked. She looked tired; older than an eight year old should. Too many emotions weighing her down. My heart broke all over again. I got out of the car and walked around to open her door. I sat down on the ground and leaned my back against the car.

"I don't want to go in there yet," she whispered so quiet that I almost didn't hear. I didn't even look up because I knew what her face would look like.

"Yeah, I won't make you." I said back. I let my head fall back against the cold steel of the door panel an shivered. I was cold and scared. I didn't even want to go in there, I sure as hell wasn't gonna make the kid go back in. We sat there for the longest time, two hours at least, her legs hanging over the side of the seat and me leaning against the door. I was just thinking. What exactly had happened? I didn't even know. I wanted to be able to tell Eliza everything would be alright. I wanted to make sure she knew that I would have traded places with her mother in a heartbeat. Finally, I stood up.

"Eliza, if you're ready, I'll take you in," I whispered. I wanted to see if they had found out anything more, if my beautiful Chris was even alive.

"Ok Jim," her small voice whispered and she slowly slid out of the seat. She reached her hand out to me and I grasped it firmly in mine. We walked the long and solemn walk through the automatic doors, and the sight of Eliza's eyes when they wooshed shut behind us was too much. Tears rolled down her eyes again. I can only imagine that she has the same thoughts as me. Chris could die. I pulled her up into my arms, wanting to take away the pain. She buried her face in my shoulder once more. I walked slowly towards the corner where Jesse, and only Jesse, was sitting, lost in a daze.

"Where are they?" I asked quietly while I sat down. I kept Eliza in my arms, not wanting to ever let her go.

"Docs came out." He stated solemnly. I waited for him to say more. There had to be more.

"And?"

"I don't know, the guys and Hondo all got up to meet him, I stayed." He said. We waited until Eliza's breaths had turned deep and even, and I knew she was asleep. I held her tight, because she felt like she was a part of me now. Jesse spoke again, eyes still focused on something far away.

"I hate hospitals."

"Yeah," was all I could manage to think of. That was kind of random.

"Last time I was in one, I was fifteen years old. They were telling me how my dad died." His gaze dropped down to the floor. "Killed himself. Overdosed." He put it bluntly, and blew me away. I never would have thought that he would drop a bomb like that.

"I'm sorry Jess," I whispered. I hated thinking that Chris could die. It couldn't happen, not when she didn't know how I felt.

"Don't worry about it. No more of my life story. Go find Hondo and the boys, I'll wait here with the kid." He smiled the same sad smile I assume I'd been giving Eliza, and pointed me in the right direction. I stood up and laid Eliza down in the chair. I gave her a small kiss on the cheek and then was off.

I stormed the halls and realized how cold it really was in there, me without a shirt. My eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of my team. Then Deke's light brown eyes connected with mine. He turned, and the only thing I could see was sadness in his eyes. I damn near sprinted towards him.

"Deke? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. I could hear the anxiety in my voice.

AN: I based Jesse off of one of my best friends...Jesse Gaska, and that happened to his dad two years ago. I know that he hates hospitals more than anything else now because it reminds him of everything.


	7. Chp 7

"Jim," He choked out, tears running down his face. He pulled me into a hug. My mind was spinning. She can't be dead. She's not.

"Is she..." I can't say it. I can't, it's not possible.

"No. She's not." His usually strong voice whispers weakly."Jesus brother, she's alive, but barely." I sighed a huge sigh of relief. I thought for almost sure she was dead. I couldn't have lived with myself if she was. Tears of sadness and relief escaped my eyes.

"Jimmy," a small voice called behind me, I looked and saw Eliza's face, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was rooted, frozen to the ground. Everything on her face made me think that she thought her mother was never coming back. I whispered her name gently as I scooped her up into my arms. Her big brown eyes looked up and locked into mine.

"My mami?" her voice came out breathless.

"She's alive Eliza." She probably didn't even know she was holding her breath. I hugged her to me, and she just laid her head on my shoulder; no tears. Deke cleared his throat.

"Jim, I have to talk to you." he said quietly. His eyes zeroed in on the floor.

"Eliza, can you go back with Jesse? I'll be right back." I said while putting her back on her feet. She nodded slowly, and scurried back towards where Jesse was still sitting. I watched her go, then turned slowly back towards Deke, who looked back up and his eyes told a tale of sadness.

"Jim, the doctors said," his voice broke off. I put my hand on his shoulder to reassure. This can't be good. He cleared his throat, and tried again. "The doctors said, her heart stopped four times while they were operating on her. Chris shouldn't even be alive right now, the way she got hit, it tore up a lung, and way too much shit in there. Doctors think she won't make it through the night." My world almost collapsed.

Then I realized. Doctors are bullshit. They don't know if she's going to live or die. Chris is special, she's tough, she would never be gone. Chris would never let something like that get her. She's magic. That's what I love about her.

"Deke, I don't care what doctors say. Chris's not gonna let this shit get to her. She's a fighter, and she would never leave Eliza alone in the world." It came out stronger than I expected.

Deke's eyes widened, he looked into my eyes as if trying to read my mind. He just nodded, and turned back towards the corner where the rest of the team was waiting. I looked at Eliza and saw more of Chris in her than I had ever seen before. Her strong will flashed through the small girl's eyes. The thoughts of Chris dying flooded my head. I had to walk back around the corner out of the team's sight, and my knees buckled. I dropped to the floor and warm tears dripped down and on to my bare chest. I still needed to get a shirt, but I didn't care. Shit like that doesnt matter. How could I think about a t-shirt when Chris could be dying? I pulled my hand to my face for one last swipe to get the tears off, and then got back to my feet. I wobbled a bit, before regaining my balance and walking towards the team again. Hondo stood to see eye to eye with me and motioned to the exit. He wanted to talk outside.

I walked slowly behind Hondo. His steps were firm, where mine wobbled. He radiated strength, where I showed weakness. But he had no idea about what I was going through.

"Street, I know you have a thing for Sanchez." He stated bluntly, not even turning in my direction.

"Threre is no thing." I lamely replied. But it was the truth, I was the only one with a thing. Chris had no idea.

"Don't bullshit me Street. I'm a smart man, I notice things. Now when a team member of mine is going through a tough time, I'm not going to stand by and just watch shit go down. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Sanchez is in trouble. And since you have have a thing for her, now would be the perfect time to bring it to my attention." Hondo faced me and his dark eyes scanned me up and down.

"Look Hondo, I...I...yes...yeah I have a thing for Sanchez, but she doesn't know about it. I haven't told her anything." I sighed. I might never even get the chance now. "But, to answer the question, yeah." I ran my hands through my hair, and shivered, it was freezing outside. I folded my arms and hugged them close to my chest.

"That's exactly what I have known all along. Except for the part about Chris no knowing anything about it." Hondos eyes smiled at mine while his face remained serious. "Street, you didn't have to say anything. But, you must be blind if you didn't notice it. The girl's in love with you." He must be joking me. No one would love me like that.

"Hondo..." I choked, my eyes filling with tears once again. I hadn't cried this much in my whole life. Yet here I was, sobbing my brains out for Chris, but she was worth every tear. "Hondo, she can't die." I stuttered out.

"Well Street, that's not a decision you or I have the power to make. Chris is in control of her future as long as she keeps holding on." Hondo said as he took my shoulder and we walked back to the entrance to the hospital. "We need to get you a shirt."

When we got back to the group, I sat down exhausted because the day was finally getting to me. Deke was on my left and Eliza was on my right. Deke leaned over to me and whispered.

"The doctor came out to tell us what room she was in, and we all decided that you should be the first to go and see Chris." His brown eyes reading mine, and seeing the weariness. "If you don't want to its ok cuz we-"

"No, I want to see her." I whispered back strongly. If Chris was available, I wasn't gonna pass up the chance. Deke slipped me a peice of paper with her room number on it and patted my shoulder.

"Be strong brother"


	8. Chp 8

I started my slow walk to the stairs, and up to the fourth floor. I finally be came aware of the dull throbbing on my chest, and I looked down to see a dark purple and black bruise had formed. From the bullet that Chris's vest had stopped. If she hadn't given me the vest, that shot would have killed me. I looked down at the slip of paper in my hands, and saw that I was on the right floor. I pushed open the door, and was met by a blast of cold sterile air. It smelled like medicine. A sign shot out at me. INTENSIVE CARE. It was stupid of me not to know. Of course she was gonna be in intensive care. But it still shocked me. The whole floor contrasted to Chris's colorful nature. She was so bright and unique. Everything here was so white, clean, and conforming.

I stumbled blindly down the hallway, not really looking at anything, except the numbers on the wall. 436. 437. 438. There its was, room number 439. Chris was in there right now. I looked down at my watch. It had been about six hours since the whole ordeal, and Chris had come out of surgery less than ten minutes ago. I leaned against the wall and ran my hands through my hair. Everywhere in this place was freezing. I was scared out of my mind. I didn't want to see Chris hanging in the balance like that, but eventually, my love for her won out, and I realized that she was still Chris, and I needed to be with her. Just in case she woke up and I had the chance to tell her I loved her.

My hand went out to the door handle, and I slowly turned it. Time seemed to stand still. I walked over the threshhold and into the stark white room.

I looked over to the left, and saw her. Chris. My Chris. Her whole body looked so tiny in the bed, surrounded by the bright whiteness of the sheets. She had a tube in her throat attached to a respirator in the corner. Bandages covering her with blood slowly seeping through. A steady beep going off monitering her heart. There were so many wires and tubes keeping her alive. Her eyes were closed, and she looked so pale. It was crazy to think that hours ago, bullets had ripped through her small frame, wreaking havoc on anything it connected with. I wanted to reach out and hold her, and never let her go. Instead, I settled for taking a chair by her side, and holding her hand.

"Hey Chris, it's Jim," I said lamely. I couldn't think of anything but I love you. "I don't know if you can hear me...this is dumb. Well, I would give anything to be where you are right now. You gotta keep hanging on." Tears started rolling down my face, and I kissed her icy hand. I remembered that only hours ago, I was holding the same small hand in mine, scared out of my mind. She had held my life in her hands so many times, and now it felt as if I was holding hers. I never wanted to let go of her hand. She was my everything, my world, and if she was gone, so was I, simple as that.

I hadn't even realized that I fell asleep. I woke up to a pair of arms pulling me from my tossing and turning. It was black dreams, nothing happened, just black. Something small was in my hand, and I looked down to see Chris's hand in mine. Shit, what time was it? How long had I been asleep?

"Wha...who is that?" I said, before turning to see Hondo.

"Didn't look like you were having a good sleep Street." He said quietly, not wanting to disturb Chris, even though it seemed nearly impossible. His eyes shifted from me to Chris. "She doesn't look so good."

"She'll get better." I said, sounding more confident than I felt. I had to change conversations, because thinking about her was gonna get to me. "How long was I out for?"

"I dont know, depends on when you fell asleep, but you've been up here about three hours. It's the middle of the night." He answered calmly, not taking his eyes of Chris.

"Where's Eliza?" I asked, concerned that she was still downstairs, worrying and crying.

"Jesse and Deke took her home to her grandma's on their way home. She fell asleep a long time ago." Hondo answered eyes still glued on Chris's small frame. I focused my attention on her too, afraid that if she was left out of my sight too long, she would be gone.

"I should never have let her into the building without a full suit." He said quietly.

"She wouldn't have listened to you and you know it Hondo." I whispered back. Chris would have gone anyways.

"Yeah, but I can't help but think about how this all could have been prevented." He said back, lost in a daze. I gave Chris's hand a small squeeze and looked down at her. Her face was blank of expression which, under normal circumstances, you would never see. She was so pale, probably from losing so much blood.

"It's gonna be fine," I said quietly, both to Hondo and Chris. I don't know how I would be able to live with myself if it wasn't fine.

"I gotta get home Street, you call me if anything happens," He said, finally shifting his gaze from Chris.

"You got it Hondo." I said back, my voice breaking again. 'If anything happens' means if she dies. He gave me a nod and walked out of the room. I was alone again. I held my Chris's hand, and closed my eyes, and imagined holding her. Imagined making everything right again.

"Excuse me?" a voice broke the beautiful silence. I was startled from my daydreams, and quickly opened my eyes. A tall blond guy was standing at the door.

"Yeah?" I answered, confused.

"Im Bobby, Officer Sanchez's night nurse. I was in here before, but you were asleep. I have to check her vitals," He said. I should have known by his appearance that he was a nurse, but I was too tired to even look that much into it.

"Yeah. Yeah go ahead," I said with a yawn, realeasing Chris's hand for the first time in hours. My own hand felt empty. Bobby read the gibberish coming off of the monitors, and wrote furiously on his clip board. For several minutes, I watched in silence.

"How's it looking?"I said finally.

"Pretty much the same, still not good." He said sadly. "You work with her?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's been my partner on our SWAT team for over a year." I said back, not wanting to go into the complexities of our relationship.

"SWAT? Pretty impressive." He said simply back.

"Yeah, that's my Chris, pretty and impressive." I said, turning my attention back to her. I took her hand back into mine, and kissed, amazed at how cold it had become in the minutes it had not been in mine.

"I'll be back in another hour to check up again." Bobby said before leaving. When the door shut again, I leaned over Chris, and planted a gentle kiss on her cold forehead, before sitting back in my uncomfortable plastic chair and drifting once again into restless slumber.


	9. Chp 9

AN: Sorry this one is such a shortie, but you'll see why I had to cut it there. Anyways, have fun reading.

I learned that it's hard to get sleep in the ICU unless you are the medicated patient. In fact, it's damn near impossible. Every hour Bobby came back in and checked up on Chris, and every hour, he told methatthere had not been much improvement. I was just happy Chris was still alive. It was nearing seven in the morning when I was woken once again by Bobby's entrance.

"I'm at the end of my shift, and another nurse will be doing the checks again until six tonight." He said as he read the monitors and wrote the information down.

"No problem," I sighed, supressing another yawn.

"Has she gotten any better?" I asked anxiously. She had already proved the doctors wrong about not living through the night. Maybe Chris would prove them even more wrong and wake up.

"Not much," He said. His eyes turned sad. "Don't get your hopes up Jim."

"Chris is going to be fine." I said, my voice cracking. No one was going to say anything about her dying. It was not going to happen.

"Jim, don't set yourself up for pain." He sighed slowly, giving me a pat on the shoulder, and he left out the door. I knew he was wrong, they were all wrong. Chris was going to be fine. Tears rolled down my face. I brought her small hand up to my face and planted another kiss on it before I spoke.

It took me nearly an hour, and I poured my heart out to her. I told Chris every god damn thing that I could think of. It was weird though, because I kept expecting her soulful brown eyes to stare back into mine. If it had been anyone else, it would have felt like I was talking to a wall. But I had this feeling Chris could hear, or at least already knew, what I was saying. I wanted her to see where I was coming from, but couldn't wait until she was conscious again.

Another nurse, once again interrupted my thoughts by stomping her way into the room. She didn't even acknowledge my existence, just came in and looked up at the monitors. She ran out of the room faster than I could even register. I tried to shake it off, but she came bursting back into the room with a doctor in tow.

"I can't believe it," he gasped when he saw the monitors. He turned to me.

"Have you noticed anything different in her behavior lately?" He asked. I almost laughed.

"Behavior? Well, now that I think about...uh...yeah. She's not talking as much as she normally does." I said sarcastically.

"God." He said to no one in particular. I started to worry. What exactly is going on?

"What do you mean?" I said nervously.

"Officer Sanchez here is showing some signs of improvement."

I swear to god I kissed the nurse.


	10. Chp 10

AN: I apologize for the three month wait, never expected to do that, but I have been having some personal issues, and life's been rough, I'll try to update this for you again without making you wait too long, anyways, here's is chapter ten, Not exactly what I had been hoping for, you tell me what you think...

My fingers had a mind of their own and they tapped around on the wall in front of me as I listened to the dial tone of the payphone I was standing at.

No answer, Chris's mom must still be asleep, so I had to leave a message.

"Hey Ms. Sanchez, it's Jim...um...Jim Street, I'm at the hospital and ...uh...the doctor's had some good news...uh...they um...said Chris is getting better...I...uh...yeah...I'll call again later...or maybe you'll come in, or um...yeah...ok..Bye."

That was a genius message Jim, good job. The woman is going to think I'm crazy. Now Hondo. I dialed the number, and waited. One ring...Two rings...Three, come on Hondo.

"Street?" His deep voice asked from the other side.

"Hondo." I answered.

"What is it? Is she ok?" He asked.

"They said that she showing signs of improvement."

"So she's getting better?"

"Yeah, that's what they said. She's not out of the woods yet, but the doctors are changing their minds and they think she had a fifty-fifty shot now."

"You ain't bullshitting me?" His voice was hard to read, like always. "I got to call the rest of the guys."

"Ok Hondo."

"A half an hour," Hondo stated and the line clicked dead. I knew from the start that was going to be an easy phone call.

I went quickly back to Chris's room, rubbing at my shoulders. It was so god damn cold in this place, and I still didn't have a shirt. My arm brushed against my chest, and a pang of pain shot through me. I looked down at myself, and the bruise on my chest had gotten darker and uglier. It was sore as hell. It had been one hell of a shot. I rubbed my hands together quickly to try to get some warmth into my body as I crossed the line into her room. What I saw, or didn't see, scared the hell out of me.

She wasn't there. There was an empty bed. I ran frantically to the bed and ripped at its sheets, as if she was hiding under the thin cloth. In my panic I almost failed to notice the little red button above the headboard of the bed. The call button. This seemed like as good an emergency as any, so I smashed my palm to it.

Within seconds a nurse had hurried to the door. An annoyed look came over her face when she saw that there was no patient in the room.

"Sir," she sighed, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know where Chris went, I mean, I left her here for a second to go make a phone call, then I came back and she was gone. It's not like she could have just walked out herself because she's ya know, unconscious, so somebody must have taken her somewhere, but they should have told me or at least waited until I got back because you know, that's not really fair just messing with my head like that. Or maybe if you guys don't know where she is, than someone else came and took her. Oh god, where the hell did she go? Who would want to kidnap Chris? She's just not the ty-"

"Sir," She forced. I stopped talking at once, amazed at how someone could be so loud and still sound calm. She smiled tiredly.

"You, my friend, are rambling."

I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed. I hadn't even noticed that I had said so much.

"Well," I asked a little slower. "I just want to know where, Chris, my partner went."

"The young lady who was in this room is up getting some scans done. She should be back within a half an hour," The nurse smiled sweetly.

I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed into my familiar chair. I was very tired all of a sudden, and the nurse must have sensed this because she excused herself and let me be alone. I had drifted off way too easily, and soon found Hondo was shaking me awake.

"Street? You in there man?" Hondo was looking into my eyes, concerned. I nodded shortly

"Yeah, yeah, Hondo, I'm good."

"Street, don't bullshit me, your eyes aren't right." he said. Then he reached behind himself to the floor and threw a white object into my lap.

"Put that on, it'll help." He commanded. It was a white hoodie, and the instant it was pulled over my bruised chest, a warm fuzzy feeling came through my body. I was finally retaining heat. My eyes darted back and forth.

"Where's Chris?" She should be back by now. It didn't make any sense.

"Testing was taking longer than expected, but she will be back any minute." Hondo replied. "Sanchez's mom went up to find her, and Deke had to tag along, because she looked ready to tear the head off of anyone who got close enough to her."

"Deke's here?" I squinted my eyes, confused.

"Yeah, Deke's up with Sanchez's mama, Boxer is waiting outside, and Jesse is with him."

"What about Eliza?"

"With a baby sitter. It seems that the older Ms. Sanchez decided it was best for her not be here." I nodded my head in agreement. One stressful day like the last would probably be enough for Eliza at the moment.

I stood up to shake my legs out, and realized how tired and cramped I really was. I wanted to just go home, fall into bed, and sleep for days. But my heart wouldn't allow it.

Hondo's eyes met mine and they shifted towards the door, I nodded in approval, and we both headed that way. We opened the door to the hall just in time to hear Chris's mother swearing up a storm at the orderlies walking with her.

"Cayete," She silenced him, "Don't you even know nothing about what's wrong with her? Idiota! Estupido! Hijo de puta!" Deke was jogging behind them, just holding his head in his hand.

"Hondo," He called over their heads. "I tried man, I tried to keep her calm, but it's impossible."

"It's all good Deke," Hondo returned.

"Thank you for… going to there with me Deacon," Ms. Sanchez said, suddenly calm again. The orderlies that were behind her wheeled Chris back into her room, and to my disappointment, but I expected it, she was still out like a light. Chris's mom followed her bed back into the room, but she stopped when she saw me.

"Jim? You call me today before?" She asked, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, Jim, I am Jim," I replied. I stuttered a little, surprised that she remembered my idiotic phone call from this morning.

"Christina speaks much of you," She smiled a sort of little half smile, and continued into the room. I tried to follow behind her, but Hondo pulled me back.

"Let her be with her daughter alone for a while Street." Hondo suggested simply. As much as it killed me to even consider being without Chris, I conceded to his point. So I stumbled in my half awake mode towards the row of chairs against the wall. Boxer and Jesse were already taking of three chairs between the two of them, so I curled up in the last one, trying to keep warm and not think about everything that had been happening.


	11. Chp 11

AN: I'm sorry guys, so much shit to deal with, so little time. If you are still reading this story, I promise I will finish it as fast as I can.

I spent the next two weeks learning more and more about Chris's mom. All the time we spent together was teaching the both of us a lot about each other, and a hell of a lot about Chris. I fell more in love with her at each story her mom told me. Though her English was just as good as my Spanish, which wasn't saying much, she was able to get her message across. To nobody's surprise, Chris was a tough child, but she also had a sensitive side that nobody knew about. Chris's mom said that she would come home and cry in her room sometimes because of the way she got made fun of in grade school. I was amazed. We spent our hours on either side of Chris's bed. She would hold Chris's hand on one side, and I leaned against the bars of the bed on the other.

Every day Chris wasn't awake, another boulder was added to the weight on my shoulders. I was starting to just sag under the pressures. Eliza had been in to see her mom only twice, but both times she had cried, and it broke my heart even more. I'd lost at least ten pounds from eating only enough to keep me alive. I hadn't been home in the two weeks that Chris had been here. I had been put on a leave of absence from SWAT, and Boxer had been feeding Rizzo. My whole life was at a standstill, and I was watching the rest of the world go by, stuck in limbo.

But when the hospital count was at two weeks and one day, something happened. Her mom and I were sitting there, not saying much, as both of us we're tired, and a short rustling sound cracked through the room.

I looked up at the woman across from me. She looked exhausted.

"You all right?" I asked, looking into her tired eyes with mine.

"I did not make a sound" she answered. I just nodded my head, and looked down at Chris. My eyes nearly jumped from my head when her head lolled towards me in her sleep and an arm swept towards the right underneath the sheets.

"She moved!" I jumped up from my uncomfortable plastic chair.

"Mija!" Chris's mom yelled from the opposite side of the bed.

I ran for a doctor, or a nurse, or anybody who looked at all official. When I had finally gained the attention of the doctor who'd been taking most care over Chris in the past weeks, but whose name I had forgotten. I practically dragged him back to the room. When we got there Chris's mom was standing over her daughter, her eyes locked to watch for movement, and her fingers gently stroking hair back and out of the younger woman's face.

"So officer Sanchez moved?" The doctor asked, trying to understand what I had been stuttering to say before.

"Yeah, yeah, it's like she's asleep or something." I managed to spit out.

"Okay, let me take a look." The doctor advanced towards Chris. He checked all the monitors, and shined the little flashlight in her eyes. When he turned towards us, I couldn't tell if he had good news or bad.

"Officer Sanchez is in the process of waking up," his face broke into a smile, and I busted out the biggest shit-eating grin that I had in my entire life.


	12. Chp 12

AN: Hey, this has got to be a record for me. Thanks for the reviews, guys, seems like the only thing good in my life. I'm not really happy with this, but whatever, tell me what you think. I'll update soon.

The doctor continued. "You see, when the human body awakens from the comatose state, it's not like in the movies where the patients eyes just flutter open. It's a longer process than that. She is going to be tired, uncomfortable, and probably not very sociable, and she will be in a significant amount of pain, but it seems that within the day, Officer Sanchez should wake up."

I was so happy. I pulled Ms. Sanchez into a hug so quickly that I don't think she saw it coming. Then, I ran for the phones. My fingers flitted across the number pad.

"Hondo, she's going to be ok, she's waking up!" I practically shouted into the phone.

"What?" A tired yawn came back across the line. I checked my watch. It was only four in the morning. Hondo had just woken up.

"Chris, she's waking up," I said more slowly.

"Are you sure?" Hondo said, his voice, once again, hard to read. I had the familiar feeling of déjà vu, every time I talked to Hondo, he made me repeat myself.

"Yeah, doctor said within the day, Chris should wake up." I gushed.

"That's damn good to hear," Hondo said, his voice finally showing happy emotions. "I'll call the rest of the guys, you just keep me posted."

"You got it Hondo."

"Alright Street. I will be there when I can be."

"Ok."

"Ok, Street." He said as he hung up the phone. I slammed the receiver down and sprinted back to Chris's room.

"Is she up yet?" I blurted as I jumped through the door. Ms. Sanchez flew backwards in to the wall with her hand over her chest.

"You frightened me."

"Sorry," I grinned sheepishly, "I got excited."

"It is ok," she answered, and sat back down into her seat.

"How is she doing?" I said, gesturing towards Chris. I looked down and she was in roughly the same position as earlier.

"You are gone for only two minutes."

"Oh, I didn't notice," I said, scratching at my head. "It felt like hours." She laughed at me.

"Tu estas loco mi amigo," She chuckled, "Tu estas loco."

"Yep, that's me, crazy." I answered, settling my self back into my chair.

I leaned back against the chair back, and watched Sanchez's mama slowly drift to sleep on the bed rail of Chris's bed. I looked at Chris, and took her hand. A small puddle of drool was forming below her mouth, and I chuckled softly. My fingers brushed her cheek gently to wipe it away, and I tilted her head up just the slightest bit. Her eyebrows scrunched together, and she sighed quietly. I smiled, and rested my chin on the bed rail. Before I knew it, my eyes slipped shut, and I was out.

But I wasn't asleep for long.

I jumped from my sleep when a hand slapped into my face and slid down to my arm

"Ow," I cried softly, and glanced down to see where the unwelcome slap had come from. A thin pale hand was lying palm up on my arm. I followed it up a slender arm, and in my half awake stupor, it took me too long to realize Chris's hand had smacked my face. My head whipped up to see her face, and I saw her eyes were still shut.

She must have moved in her sleep.

My face fell, and I brought my hand up to my brow and looked to my shoes.

"You just keep teasing me Sanchez," I sighed. I brought my hand down and grabbed hold to hers to settle myself back into sleep.

This next time, I woke up because I fell. I full on slipped off of the chair and onto the floor and woke up to the cold tile under my cheek.

"Jim," Ms. Sanchez called from over the bed. "Are you all right?"

"Yep, just fell, that's all," I said, dusting my pants off as I stood up. I glanced down at Chris, and saw her eyes were barely open.

"Shit!" I yelled. I collapsed down into my chair and brought my hand up to the side of her pale face. "Chris," I breathed, barely above a whisper. My hand gently ran along the side of her face.

"Hey Sanchez." I smiled.

"Christina, mija." Her mama beamed. Chris's tired eyes turned towards her mother's voice, and I only wished she could talk, but knew that the breathing tube in her throat was keeping that from happening.

"I should go get a doctor," I said slowly and calmly, and backed away from the bed, memorizing her eyes as I left. When I was completely through the door, I sprinted towards the receptionist's desk.

"I, uh, ah, room…room 439. Officer Christina Sanchez is awake," I stuttered to the receptionist.

"I'll page Doctor De Jong," I mentally made a note of that being the doctor from before. I ran back to the room.

"Chris...Sanchez...you ok?" I said, falling back into my chair. She tried to shift in her bed, and winced. Her eyes closed.

"Mija¿Estas tu buena?" her mother cried. She hovered over her daughter. Chris's eyes pulled open again and Ms. Sanchez breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chris, it seems like lately you've been into scaring the shit out of people."


	13. Chp 13

AN: I 'm so sorry this took so long, I never meant for it. I moved twice in the last month, and will probably be moving again, so It's just stressful, on top of the fact that I got my computer taken from me and just today got it back. Some crazy hectic shit going on, but oh well, I will get you another chapter as soon as I can.

Her tired eyes smiled as the rest of her face could not. I brought my hand back to hers, and rubbed my palm along her cold skin.

A single knock announced the doctor, Doctor De Jong, as he came through the door. A crooked smile crossed his face.

"Officer Sanchez, it's great to have you back on our side." He said as he pulled that little light thing from his pocket.

"Follow it with your eyes." And he drew the light across her face. "Good, good." He switched it off and pulled his stethoscope out.

"Officer Sanchez, do you remember what happened?" He asked. Her head shook left to right gently, saying no. His face took a solemn expression.

"Fifteen days ago, you were on an assignment, and got shot four times. You sustained very serious injuries." I looked away from him and back down to Chris, trying not to relive the moment. But I couldn't shut his voice out. He described exactly what each bullet did, how the one in her leg made the bone splinter, and how her arm's muscles had been ripped apart. His words weren't that graphic, but they didn't have to be. My stomach churned with each sentence. When he got to the big stuff, I couldn't handle it. I felt myself jump from the chair next to the bed, and mumble something as I walked out of the room. When the door shut, my head went to the sky, and I leaned my back against a wall. I don't really know how long it was before a hand touched my shoulder.

"Street" My head jerked to see Deke standing at my shoulder.

"Hey Deke." I yawned.

"Hondo called, and I called in some favors to get out of work today." He said, "How's she doing? She awake?"

"Yeah, she's awake," I mumbled.

"Is she talking?" he proclaimed excitedly.

"No, the air tube in her throat won't let her."

"Ok," He nodded, "But why are you out here?"

"Doctor's talking to her." I answered simply. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't handle it.

"I see, you want to leave her to her privacy." He laughed.

"I'll go back after he's done, I just want to talk to him alone for a second."

"Here's your chance," He said, gesturing towards the tall doctor as he ducked through the door. I jogged to get next to him as he walked away.

"Excuse me. Dr. De Jong?" I asked, trying to flag him down.

"Yes?" He answered and wheeled around, catching me off guard as I smashed into him and fell to the ground.

"Doc, I'm so sorry, I was-"

"It's no problem," He interrupted, offering a hand to help me up. "You're Mr…?"

"Officer Street," I explained.

"You're Officer Sanchez's partner, yeah, it must have been hard to have to listen to that." He said referring to earlier.

"Yeah, no, I mean, I just was, I had to make a phone call," I stuttered.

"Don't worry, I understand," He nodded, "What did you want to talk about?"

"I was…look, is she going to be ok?"

"You're partner is improving greatly, but she's got a lot of work cut out for her." He said, crossing his arms.

"But when's she coming back to work, is she's going to get back like how she used to be?"

"Well, I won't go in to all the details, but you know her injuries, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I brought my hand back up to my forehead, realizing that I was nervous.

"Ok, well, to put it bluntly, she'll never be back to one hundred percent and with the subject of her going back into police work, it's not going to happen." He answered solemnly. I exploded.

"What?"

"There was nerve damage in her right arm, which I understand is her dominant hand, and only time will tell, but there will most likely be difficulties in that arm, and that shot in the leg is almost definitely going to leave a permanent limp."

"Did you tell her that?" I griped.

"Officer Sanchez is aware of the fact that returning to work is not a possibility."

"Ok then, thanks I guess Doc." I said and waved him away as I turned my back. Deke was standing there waiting for me, staring at the opposite wall. When he heard my footsteps, his head snapped up.

"What's up?"

"She's not coming back to SWAT." I sighed angrily.

"She's what?" He said, confused.

"She's not coming back," I said, collapsing into the chair closest to him. "God damn it Deke, she's off SWAT, and she's going to be scarred for fucking life. She'll never be the same." I felt the incredulity rise in my voice.

"Hey, she'll be ok," He said, shaking my shoulder, "She'll get through this shit, and she'll be the same person, she doesn't need SWAT to be who she is."

"I know, I know, it's just, I know it was important to her," I explained.

"She'll be fine Street, stop stressing yourself." I sighed deep, and stood back up.

"Let's go see her. That's why you're here anyways, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." He followed me back into her room. She was asleep again, and I didn't want to be in there all of a sudden, so I went back into the hall and wandered off. I needed some time to myself to process what I had been told. If Chris wasn't coming back to SWAT, it meant I would be getting a new partner, and that was something I did not want, definitely. Chris was one in a million, and a member of the team I could never replace. Plus the fact, I wouldn't get to see as much of her at all if I was on SWAT and she wasn't.

I ran into Hondo on his way out of the elevator.

I mean I literally _ran into_ him. I scrambled to my feet, and helped him up.

"Geez Hondo, I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to...I mean that's the second damn time today..." I rambled.

"It's ok, I've had worse happen to me," Hondo said simply as he brushed his elbows off. "So how's Sanchez?"

"She was awake, but she's back asleep now." I said simply. He nodded, and gestured towards the door. "I'm heading in there, you coming?" He asked

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a minute," I said waving my hand in the air and bringing the other to my neck. He nodded again and went to her room. And I sat down in one of the many chairs in the hallway. I rested my neck back, and felt my face screw together. I didn't know what to do anymore. Chris was supposed to get better and come back to the team. She wasn't allowed to not be there anymore. I must have sat there for an hour before it struck me plain as day. I had already spent over two weeks of my life in this hospital for her, why couldn't I go in and look at Chris now?

"It just Chris you idiot, what are you afraid of?" I sighed to myself and stood back up to go see my girl.

When I crossed the room's thresh hold, I saw that the breathing tube in Chris's throat was gone, and replace by an oxygen mask. On anybody else, it probably would've made them look like a dork, but, at this moment especially, Chris was as beautiful as I had ever seen her. All I saw was her, Christina Sanchez, plain as day. Her open eyes locked with mine, and I saw a tired smile hit her face. I came up by her side and smiled crookedly at her.

"How you feeling Sanchez?" I sighed softly. I didn't care if Hondo or Deke or even Chris's mom was in there with me. I was talking to her now. She was about to answer when she realized she still had that mask on her face. She brought her left hand up and pulled it down. She cleared her throat and whispered to me hoarsely.

"Heard you been...next to me...for two whole weeks." She wheezed.

"Best two weeks of my life," I grinned sarcastically. I took a hold of her hand.

"Good...to have...ya here Jimmy," she sighed. She took her hand back up to her face and pushed at the oxygen mask, but it didn't quite get to her face. I took the liberty of putting it back on for her, but before my hand came off of it, she tried to pull it off. So i took it off for her, and she added one more thing.

"I want to see...my kid." She gasped. I nodded, and placed the mask back on her face.

"Hey, no more talking," I commanded. Her eyes agreed with me. And I saw the pain course through her face and worried until her eyes opened slightly back up.

"You get better now Sanchez, you hear?"


	14. Chp 14

AN: Hey guys, I got another one for you, I'm sorry these all take so long, and frankly even I'm getting tired of my excuses. I'll try harder to get the next one up quickly. Anyways, this one felt awkward to me, tell me what you think.

When Chris's mom finally brought Eliza in to see her mama the next day, it was all I could take to not start bawling like a baby. Eliza looked terrified that her mom would break at any second, and Chris was on this edge, trying extra hard to reassure Eliza that she was ok. Eliza was mumbling one word or two, avoiding even looking at her mother.

Chris's mom seemed to sense that there was tension in the air, and decided it was time to go. Eliza gave me a quick hug, and mumbled a goodbye to her mom. When the door shut, I glanced at Chris, and she looked heartbroken.

"My own kid doesn't want to look at me," She sighed. I think that the way Eliza had acted was killing her more than she let on.

"Aw, come on Sanchez, she was just nervous," I tried, wanting to wipe that look off her face.

"Then why did she hug you?"

"I think, she just didn't want to hurt you," I said while pressing my foot up against the wall and leaning back towards the door. I grabbed her left hand and swung it back and forth gently. From the corner of my eye, I saw the confusion play across her face. I smiled a little bit.

"What?" I pressed.

"I told her I was fine," Chris answered. The end of the word got caught in her throat, and she started coughing. I watched her for a second.

"Yeah right Chris, that looks like fine to me," I commented. She pulled her hand from mine, and between coughs managed to give me the finger. I laughed, and let the chair fall back to the floor, and watched as the coughing died down. Her eyes were red and teary, and it looked as if all the coughing had taken the energy out of her. She cleared her throat a couple times.

"Go fuck yourself Jim," She rasped.

"I"ll do that as soon as I can find the time." I laughed back at her. "But seriously, you ok?" She nodded wordlessly, but I could tell she was lying. It just didn't seem important enough to push any further.

"Anyways," I started again, and put my foot back up on the wall and leaned back. "I think Eliza was just still kinda messed from before. I mean, you didn't have to see what you looked like last week." She nodded in agreement, then leaned her head back into the pillow.

"I don't want her to be afraid of me." Chris wheezed.

"She won't be, as soon as she's sure you'll be ok, she'll be the same again." I reassured her, adding a pat on the hand for good measure. My eyes drifted up to her bandaged right arm, and the white bandaging on her chest that wrapped over her shoulder. Faint blood spots pointed out exactly where the bullet wounds were. I looked down at my hand resting on hers.

"So, how you doing, I mean, really?" I asked gently. I nodded my head up towards her arm. She sat quiet for a second before answering.

"I guess, I'm just happy I'm alive ya know," She sighed in a soft and quiet tone. A short nervous laugh came from her mouth, followed by a wince, and a frown.

"Yeah, I'm happy about that too," I replied, then added, "'Cause, ya know, I care about you."

"I got another surgery tomorrow for this," She muttered, her voice barely audible, and gestured her head to her arm. Chris's eyes were droopy and tired.

"Yeah?" I answered simply. She nodded, and closed her eyes.

"I don't want to lose my job Jim." She whispered. Chris barely opened her eyes again, and she probably saw me nodding like an idiot.

"Nobody wants that Chris," I agreed.

"I worked too hard for this to just loose it like I did," She sighed. Her head lolled towards me, and I swear that her eyes were pleading with me to tell her what to do.

"Chris," I started, but was cut off.

"Thanks for being here." My mouth just sat open like and idiot.

"No problem," I answered, somewhat stupidly. My brain was shouting at me to tell her why I've been sitting in this dingy white room for sixteen days, but I just sat there. She stared down into her hand, and then looked over at the lifeless arm to her right. Then she looked back at me.

"Jim, what am I going to do? I can't take care of Eliza like this. I can't do it." She said in an empty voice. I looked at her, surprised by her lack of faith.

"You're gonna be ok Sanchez." The words were pouring straight from my brain. "You're going to be ok because you're tough. You don't let things like this get to you. And you are going to get better. You're going to be ok again. And I'm going to help because I love you more than anyone else in this world."

The second it hit me, I felt like the biggest idiot on Earth. I had just finally let my little secret slip to the only other person that mattered, and was about to see if it was just going to fly by, or become a train wreck right in front of me. I jumped from my seat in pure shock.

I saw the words hit her face. A wave of surprised passed through her sunken eyes and pale face. Then, her brow furrowed in confusion. I didn't want to hear her shoot me down. My hands pulled up to my temples and I stared at the floor.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, I mean, I didn't. Chris, I, I'm an idiot, just, don't listen to me, I didn't mean to tell you like this." I looked down at her and could feel the sweat beading on my forehead. She was staring straight out at the door.

"Did you mean it?" She asked, as soft as ever. I sighed, and locked eyes with her. I could feel my head nod, but felt totally out of control of my body.

"Fuck," She breathed, "Fuck, I can't, I mean, I just can't do this right now." Her hand flew up in the air to try to make her point, but her face screwed up in a scowl, and she hissed in pain. I ignored it, knowing she wouldn't want me to bring that up.

"Do what?" I answered softly.

"I can't have you love me," She sighed.

"Shit Chris, you don't have to do anything. For all I care, you can call me an idiot and laugh. Just pretend I was drunk and talking stupid like I always do or something."

"Ok," She whispered.

"All right," I agreed, "This never happened." Some part of me wished she had confessed her love to me right there, but I couldn't make her do anything she didn't want to do. My eyes lingered on her face for a second before I pulled them back to the my feet and sat down in the chair again. Her eyes were circled in black, and she was unable to hide the exhaustion anymore. I could see all the confusion, pain and just dog-tiredness in them.

"You should sleep Sanchez," I said blankly, and leaned my chair back again. She nodded and closed her eyes. Once she was out, I sighed, happy that I had escaped _that_ disaster. And, even though it was something I had spent the last two weeks doing it, I watched Chris sleep. She was so peaceful in sleep, and I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about her wanting to knock my ass out for saying something stupid.


	15. Chp 15

AN: I got another for ya, sorry bout the wait. Read, review, and enjoy

And from then on, I treated Chris only as a friend and my partner. It was hard as hell, especially after that surgery the next day, and she was delirious from the pain. I wanted just to hold her and make it all go away, but I held myself back.

I had to start going back to work and going back home finally. It was weird. I was kind of off, after everything that happened. I was slower than usual, just altogether sluggish. My response times had gotten horrible. I was constantly getting killed in our mock ups. It got so bad that one day Hondo finally just left with all us guys still out on the gun range because I had missed every target. I was going to follow him and hit the showers when Jesse grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Hey, wha?" I cried, shocked at both the grabbing of the shoulder, and the fact that I hadn't anticipated it.

"Just listen Jim," Jesse said. "I know what's happening to you, and I'm gonna help you get back into your zone." He said simply.

"What do you mean, I'm fine," I lied back to him, not even believing myself. I didn't want to take tips from the new guy, I was the oldest memeber on the squad. I should be whipping him into shape.

"Bull shit," He said, drawing out the "bull" for effect. "The same thing happened to me when my dad died. When I finally got back to my life, I let every single thing that ever mattered to me go down the toilet."

"I'm not doing that." I fought back.

"Even you know you look like shit out there." He answered incredulously. His green eyes looked me up and down, and I knew he was scanning me for a reaction. "But you gotta get on with your life. It takes balls, and you're going to have to work twice as hard as before, but you've gotta kick your own ass and figure yourself out." I sat there speechless. The boy in front of me spoke more seriously to me now than he had ever done before. Then he broke into a toothy grin.

"But if you can't kick your own ass, I'm just going to have to do it for you." I laughed, and for the first time in a while, it felt like a real laugh.

After talking to Jess, I went to see Chris again for the first time in three days. But I stopped and picked her up a present on the way. It was something that was very specifically for her and her alone.

"Hello my friend, brought you something." I smiled, and dropped the gift into her lap. She smiled out of the side of her mouth.

"You like?" I asked, stretching my arms up in the air.

"Only you would even think about getting me this Jim," She held the CD case away from herself like it was diseased and crinkled her nose.

"Aww come on Chris, I know you love Irish folk music," I laughed, and took the CD back from her. It was a running joke between us ever since she heard a Mariachi CD playing in my car. It just so happened it had come free in the mail, so I played it to see what it sounded like. On that one CD, one of the songs had gotten completely engrained in my brain. She thought it was hysterical to hear me singing to it and had given me different Spanish CD's for my birthday, Christmas, and every other occasion she could, so I retaliated by giving her Irish music. It had started with some step dance music I taken from the YMCA class one day while I was doing one of those public service seminars. But then I saw this one, and it screamed to be bought.

I slid it into a little player next to the bed and played the music softly. Both of us were silent as the first ten seconds of "Danny Boy" played, but then we both busted up laughing. When we finally stopped, Chris's face had screwed up, but she was still smiling.

"Oww, that hurts bad. Don't make me laugh like that." She gasped, holding her side.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist," I shrugged. I shut the CD off, and stuck it back inside it's case.

"What should we do with this?" I asked, holding it up exactly as she had earlier. Her face dropped.

"Throw it in a fire." She answered, in all seriousness.

"Can you burn a CD like that?" I said, squinting my eyes and thinking about it. I really had no idea.

"Of course you can idiot, it's plastic, it's gonna melt." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Right, right," I nodded, "I knew that."

"Yeah right."

"No I mean it," I insisted laughing just a little.

"I really don't believe you." She pulled the one eyebrow on me, and I caved.

"Ok fine, I didn't know," I admitted, "But so what? I got a D in chemistry in high school anyways."

"I knew it." Chris laughed, " But really Jim, destroy that." She said, pointing at the guilty peice of evidence in my hands.

"I can't destroy it," I answered honestly. She gave me that quizzical look I knew all to well. "It's your present Chris, I can't do anything with it." I said, placing it back with her and moving far enough away that she couldn't give it back if she wanted to.

"Ok, ok," She sighed, and moved it to the table next to her. She looked back up at me, and smiled.

"How you been Jimmy boy?" She yawned, and leaned back into the pillow.

"What, tired already?" I joked, and she rolled her eyes again. "Well, today I got Hondo so mad that he left us all out on the shooting range and just walked away."

"No way." She looked at me in disbelief.

"Yeah, I mean it. He just left. He was mad because I died probably four times today." I told her. She shook her head back and forth.

"What are you doing out there man?" She laughed.

"Hey I just have to get used to doing it without my partner in crime again."

"Partner against crime," She corrected me. "but you're going to have to get on without me." She finished. Her expression dropped, and the tension rose in the air.

"Chris, it's going to be all right," I breathed softly. "You're going to be fine." My first instinct was to pull her close, and I almost went to do so, but stopped myself.

"Fuck Jim, I'm just a wuss," she sighed, and closed her eyes. Her hand shot up to her forehead, and she turned away from me.

"You are not a wuss." I pressed, knowing she wanted to end it but not allowing it. "It's actually a pretty fucking brave thing your doing here Chris."

"I'm not brave," she shot back at me. She was bound and determined to prove me wrong.

"I don't know why you have to knock yourself down all the time." I was almost yelling now, because I just wanted her to see the person I saw every time I looked in her eyes.

"Because I do!" She cried back at me.

"WHY?"

I made even my own ears ring as the words died in the air. Her eyes were locked entirely on my own, and we stared at each other as the tension in the air died down.

"Because Jim," She answered calmly and quietly.

"What the hell does that mean?" I mused. She swollowed and winced, and I knew that this whole escalated situation had done nothing to help her heal.

"It means I don't want to talk about it, so just drop it ok," She sighed tiredly.

"Whatever Chris," I retorted back, and fell back into the chair I had already spent so much of my life in. I stared into my hands and just thought. I could never explain why this all was happening the way it was. She must have kept a lot of herself hidden from the world, and didn't want me to see.

I glanced back up at her for a second. She looked about ready to cry, and I wasn't ready for that.

"Hey," I whispered softly. Her eyes met mine and so I smiled to try and cheer her up. "Chris, you know, I will always be you friend. You don't have to love me, but I am always going to care about you, and I will always be there for you. I mean, you have saved my ass enough times that I can't even count." She smiled weakly and stared at the floor.

But this, this Chris was not who I fell in love with. She was broken; and at that moment, I wanted more than anything to be the one who put her back together.


	16. Chp 16

AN: Sorry guys, time gets away from me. If anybody is still reading this, here you go.

As I sat there longer as she tried to sleep, a thought hit me so hard I nearly fell out of my seat. I got up quietly and left the room, and ran down to my car. I went into the trunk and pulled out the vest I had been wearing that day.

I know it sounds stupid to keep it with me after everything that happened, but I felt like it held some kind of significance. If it wasn't there, than I wouldn't be here. I shut the trunk and laid the vest on top of the car, silently running my hands over the fabric. I felt the starchy stiffness where Chris's blood had covered the vest and felt a shudder roll through me. I had forgotten how much of the blood had covered me. The shirt from that day had already been burned and replaced.

So, I collected the vest up and shuffled back into the hospital. I had a feeling that having Chris see the vest and how it had literally saved my life, would help her out. I did manage to collect some strange looks on the way back to Chris's room, I mean how often do you see someone carrying a blood soaked, broken bullet proof vest in a hospital.

I opened the door softly and crept to my chair. When I looked back up at Chris, I realized she had been watching me the whole time. I grinned at her sheepishly.

"You could have told me you were awake instead of watching me creep around like an idiot." I laughed. She grinned at me softly and nodded her head at my arms.

"What's that?" She wheezed lowly. I pulled the vest slowly from my lap. Her eyes widened and then immediately narrowed.

"Shit Jim," She sighed and fell back into the pillow. Her eyes were transfixed on the vest. She motioned with her left hand at me.

"Let me have it." She reached for it, and when the weight was pressed into her hands she winced hard, but somehow managed to lug the vest into her lap. Her gaze was dead stuck on the vest, and her left hand ran lightly across it. She finally looked up at me and whispered.

"It's broken."

"I know," I answered softly. "If you hadn't have shoved that vest on me, I wouldn't be here. I know that won't justify what happened to you, but I just need to thank you for saving my life...again." She scanned me with a heavy gaze.

"You made up for it man," she answered. "You and the guys, I owe you all more than my life."

"No way girl, we're even," I laughed and took the vest back. "No more heavy shit. When are you getting out of here?"

"As soon as I can roll my ass, unassisted, in a wheelchair through one lap of this floor," she shrugged tiredly. "So maybe in a week, a couple a days, but who knows?"

"You're gonna be back at your house, or your mom's?"

"What are you kidding? My house. I mean, I love her, but we don't get along." Chris said simply.

"It didn't seem like that," I mused.

"Well, you didn't see her how she is normally. I mean, I almost died, what was she supposed to do?" She rolled her eyes at this, and I laughed.

"Come on, didn't you notice how she kind of dissappeared?" I looked around the room, almost like I had to see that Chris's mom wasn't there for myself. I felt my eyebrow's scrunch up in confusion. This definantly did not explain some of the conversation I'd had before.

"But, she said you talked alot about me?" Chris quickly jumped in to make me understand.

"I only talked to her like three times in the last year and it was always about work. And you, being my partner, would be talked about."

"Oh," I agreed, trying desperately to hide the mocking tone from my voice, and switched back to the original subject. "So it's going to be just you and Eliza?"

"Naw, my mom is going to keep Eliza for like another week so I don't have to worry about her. So it's just...me I guess."

"You sure, I mean, maybe you should have someone around in case you need something?" I scowled at the thought of Chris having to stay home alone; it just wasn't safe.

"Look, I'll be fine Jim, that's it." she finished. So I let it go for the moment, afraid of causing another argument. But I wasn't going to give this up completely just yet.

"Girl, you look tired, let me go so you can sleep." I sighed, sensing her exhaustion. I stood, picked up my vest, and left her to rest.

On the whole way to the car, I was cooking up a scheme to make sure Chris wasn't alone when she first got home. At the very least, not for the first day.

I drove home, and fell into my couch. Rizzo jumped on top of me and started licking the hell out of my face, like she had been since I came home. I think she had been feeling severly neglected, so she had been living like a queen. She was getting steak for dinner, and long long walks. But, what can I say? Rizzo's my girl.

After the little love fest, Rizzo followed me the kitchen while I started up my Hungry Man, then grabbed the phone to make a couple calls.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Box, It's Jim," I said while doing a little tango over Rizzo to head back to the couch.

"Hey Street, what's up man?"

"Not much, but I was wondering if you and the Mrs. wanted to come to help Chris get settled back in next week?"

"Heck yes we would, Sanchez is getting ready to go home?"

"It'll probably be next week, but she doesn't know for sure yet."

"All right then, you tell me when, and Carolyn here will be there in a second."

"Alright man," I laughed, "You tell your lady hello for me."

"Ok Jim, later."

"Bye Box." I hung up the phone to the microwave beeping angrily. So I pulled my hungry man out and peeled it open to dig in. As I was chewing, I called Deke and Jess, and they were both just as hyped up to help get Chris back home and back on her feet.

"Nice work today Street."

"Thanks Hondo, glad to hear it." I yelled back as I peeled a sweaty shirt over my head. Deke smacked my shoulder.

"Hey man, back in the game, huh?" He grinned. "What took you so long?"

"Let's just say somebody started kicking my ass." I answered, eyeing Jesse from across the room. He laughed and just shook his head. Boxer strutted into the locker room like he was the shit, and we all busted up laughing at him.

"What? You guys can't take it that I took down that dealer today?" He bragged.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jesse piped up. "Don't forget that you're part of a team!"

"Yeah, but who was leading you all?" I said. giving myself some props.

"Save it boys, you wouldn't have gotten no where if I wasn't covering your asses." Deke finished. I chuckled as I pulled my new T-shirt over my head and walked towards the door.

"Hey later guys," I called, and shut the door behind me. Before I could get out of the building though, Hondo called me back.

"Jim let me talk to you for a second."

"Yeah Hondo," I answered, and followed him to his office.

"Have a seat," He said, sitting down and pointing at the chair across from him. I set my bag down, and fell into the chair.

"What's this about Hondo?" I asked, confused.

"I wanted to tell you good work today." Hondo rested his elbows on his desk. "That was a damn good bust." I grinned, proud again for this first time in a long time.

"Thanks sir," I grinned.

"But I had something else I needed to talk to you about," He said, and his eyes dropped in seriousness. I felt a pang of worry, was I getting fired or transfered or what?

"Go ahead Hondo, what is it?"

He sighed deeply, and brought his chin to his hand. He thought hard about whatever he was going to say for a long time, and me waiting silently was awkward to say the least.

"Look Jim, there's no easy way to say this..."


	17. Chp 17

AN: I'm sooooo sorry about this wait. I had this all done, and then comcast cut off my internet. I couldn't get on. But here, finally you have your update. And I am sorry you all had to wait on that cliff hanger too.

BUT , thank you so much for your reviews. You guys are awesome

"There's no easy way to say this, so I should just go on and say it. Fuller says we have to pick a replacement for Sanchez by the end of the month." I sighed, partly in relief that it hadn't been something worse, and partly because the thing I had wanted to avoid completely had finally come back to smack me in the face.

"Jim, I know that you are going to be most affected by this, because it means a new partner for you, so I want you to help me. We're going to pick this guy together, and if you don't like him, than we're not keeping him." Hondo looked at me expectantly, and I just felt blown away. I couldn't even speak, this was not what I wanted to do now that I was starting to get back on track, but I knew I couldn't hold off on it forever.

"Hondo," I breathed, "Thank you for including me in this decision, but," I paused to collect the thoughts flying around in my brain. I didn't know what I wanted, but then the right words flew at me. "I will talk to you tomorrow once I figure out what I am going to do." He nodded, like he understood where I was coming from.

"Ok Street, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye Hondo."

"Hey, could you tell the rest of the guys to head on in here?"

"No problem."

When I got to the car, I felt like shit. All the pride and accomplishment from earlier had been replaced by the overwhelmingness of the situation I was now in. I didn't know what in the hell to do.

Any bad mood I was having, was instantly switched off the second I stepped out of the elevator. I had to laugh just a little bit from the shock factor of it all.

"One word," Chris huffed. "And I'll knock you out Street." Sweat dripped down her chin as she wheeled herself awkwardly past the elevator door. I pretended to zip my mouth shut, saying "my lips are sealed". A nurse was following closely behind her, so I just turned and joined the slow moving train.

As time went by, Chris got slower and slower, but she never stopped. We were three quarters of the way around the floor when each push had six or seven seconds between them, and the nurse finally tried to call it.

"Look, Christina, I think we should stop now, it's just tiring you out now." The nurse started.

"How long have I been going?" Chris sighed, still inching forward. The nurse glanced up at a clock on the wall.

"An hour and fifty minutes." She answered.

"You said...I had to get back...to my room...in two hours to get to go home." Chris panted, obviously exhausted.

"Yeah, but you don't have to prove anything. You can always try again."

"It hasn't been...two hours yet." She said, and kept pushing herself forward silently.

"All right, you get ten minutes but then I'm calling it." The nurse said. I chuckled softly to myself, and watched the nurse jump a foot and a half in the air. She whipped around, and her eyes were huge in surprise.

"God, I forgot you were there." She sighed in relief. "Have you been following us the whole time?"

I nodded, and pointed to Chris.

"Had to keep my mouth shut or my girl over there would have taken me out." The nurse looked back and forth, first at me then at Chris. It was like she couldn't quite wrap her brain around something. Finally she looked at me and whispered.

"Is she your..." I laughed.

"She's my partner, we're LAPD." She laughed a little, nervously, when I said that, and maybe it was just me, but I thought that I saw a look of excitement hit her face.

"Oh," She said, and glanced at me sideways. I could tell she was trying to flirt, and it hit a nerve. I mean, this girl was in the middle of work, she shouldn't be flirting right in front of Chris, her patient.

I tried to just shake off the irritation, and watched Chris struggle with the last few minutes of her attempt at circling the floor. Her right arm was making things even more difficult for her. She had a cast up to her shoulder, and if that weren't slowing her down enough, Chris's arm wasn't cooperating with her. I could see her growing more and more frustrated as her arm laid limp and she pushed with more the cast than her hand.

"Ok, it's been two hours now." The nurse announced, taking hold of the handles on the back of Chris's wheelchair. Chris grunted in protest. She was four rooms away from her own. I hung back as the nurse and Chris made their way back to her room, and waited until that nurse was leaving. I was about to push the door open when she stopped me.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name, I'm Jackie."

"It's Jim," I said and went for the door again. Once more, she stopped me.

"Well Jim, I get off in half an hour, do you want to go get drinks or something?" I felt my eyebrows crinkle.

"What?"

"Drinks," She said again, slower. "Did you want to get drinks?"

Well, she wouldn't have been who I would choose, but I had nothing better to do, so, maybe, I suppose, I guess I could possibly _sometime_ want to get drinks with _somebody_, and she happened to be there...

"Uh, sure. Where could I catch you before I leave? You know, once I'm done here?" I asked, flashing a halfhearted smile.

"I'll be just down the hall in the nurses station." She winked as she walked away, and it all just felt awkward, but I still pushed through the door.

"Hey Chris, what's up?"

"Nothing," She sighed. The girl looked dog-tired. I moved back to my usual chair

"Yeah, that exciting?" I said. She smirked.

"Well, I guess, if you really were interested, I finally got to pee by myself today. But it was pretty weird with that damn nurse watching the whole time." She said, and gave me an expectant look of sarcasm.

"Is that right?" I laughed.

"Yeah, well you asked." She shrugged. "Anything new with you?"

"Yeah, today we got a huge bust," I leaned back and folded my hands behind my head. "Yeah, yours truly took the guys in and pulled everybody out, no shots fired, and we got the mother fucker."

"Yeah?" She sighed, uninterested. I felt like an idiot four seconds later when I realized Chris might not want to hear me gloating like that when she doesn't get to get any of that action. I tried to fix it.

"Aww, Chris, I'm sorry-"

"No, don't be." She cut me off. "You can talk about it. It's ok, I'm not gonna freak out or anything."

"Ok."

"Yeah," she sighed. "So tell me about it."

"Ok...well, we had to go dress up for a dinner party. Actually, they made me some business man from Ireland, so I had to put on the accent and everything."

"No shit?" Chris laughed.

"Heck yeah," I laughed back, "We were taking down this guy, real big with drugs, hired a couple hits ad his assassins ratted him out. So, he was holding a big dinner party that was fronting for a drug exchange. There's like fifty tables full of dealers and suppliers, and none of us could spot him. We even had two extra teams mixed in too. This guy was no where to be found. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I see him. He's talking to two big black guys. They look like fucking bouncers. So, I excuse myself, and walk towards him. I try to make some conversation, and this fucker is trying to get away. I put my hand up and give our little signal to Deke, and he excuses himself and moves behind the guy. I get boxer to move in towards the left, and Jesse covers me in the back. The I whipped out the Magnum in my shoulder holster, and the guy caves faster than you could imagine. Then every other cop in the building whips their weapons and we take out twenty-three dealers, suppliers, whatever. No bullets, no shots."

"No way." Chris laughs.

"You better believe it girl. And there's more. When I was walking out, some fucker is right behind me, and go figure, I recognize him from traffic a couple months ago with you. Remember that Casini dude?" Chris scrunched her eyebrows for a second, then the realization struck her.

"Oh yeah, we took him down, and found the pipes and shit in his pocket."

"Yeah, yeah, he made bail, and skipped out on court, and they had a warrant out for him. So I turn and catch this punk by the throat. He goes down, and I got him locked up."

"Shit Jim, you were busy today."

"Eh, not too bad." I shrugged, "But, you know, it's definantly not as big as hitting the toilets by yourself for the first time in like three weeks."

"Hey, shut up." She said, pushing lightly on my shoulder. I laughed as she yawned.

"Get some sleep girl, you'll need the energy when you hit the floor again tomorrow." I said, standing up.

"You leaving?" She said, letting her head roll down the pillow tiredly.

"Yeah, I'll let you be." I said. "Later girl."

"Later Street."

If I had known I was about to have one of the worst dates of my life, than I would never have left the hospital with Chris. But I knew form the first swig of my beer that this whole date was a mistake.

She could not stop talking about herself. I mean, every other sentance was her complaining about her ex boy friend or talking about how she couldn't figure out why guys hit on her so much. She kept talking so long, that after a while, I just watched her mouth move and nodded my head every eight seconds.

"Excuse me, I've gotta go use the restroom." I said, trying give myself two seconds of freedom. I ducked into the bathroom, and dialed Chris at the hospital.

"Hey?" She yawned.

"Chris it's Jim did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but watchu want?"

"Look, could you call me back in a couple minutes to get me out of this date."

"Date? Who are you on a date with Street?" I could hear the amusement in her voice.

"Some nurse from the hospital." I sighed, " Just please, if I have to hear one more second of her wondering why they call it Kentucky fried chicken if she can eat in California, I might die." Chris laughed at me.

"Sounds brutal. As much as I like to see you sit throught this one, I'll do it."

"Thanks girl, I owe you so much." I said.

"Yeah you do," She laughed and hung up the phone.

I walked quickly back out to the bar, and sat down to Jackie wondering why they named it Ketchup. I kept checking my phone to see if it was ringing, and finally, after twelve minutes the phone rang. I managed to excuse myself and fly out of the bar.

"Damn girl, just wanted to make me sweat it a little?"

"You know it Street. Talk to you later kay?"

"Ok, see you tomorrow Chris."


	18. Chp 18

AN: I got another one for you. Read it and Review, Enjoy. 

The phone woke me up early the next day. I groaned, rolled over and grabbed the phone from my nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Street?" The deep voice beckoned.

"Hondo?" No way in hell. Hondo could not have something for me to do this early. It couldn't be possible.

"Yes Sir Street. Could you come down to the station today?"

"What for?" I groaned. This was my day off, my only day off.

"Time to pick our new man." Hondo said. I could hear the little laugh in his voice. He obviously thought this was funny.

"When do you need me there Hondo?"

"As soon as you can get yourself here Jim."

"Ok," I glanced at the clock, 7:42. "Give me eight thirty Hondo."

"See you then Jim." I set the phone back down and rolled off the bed. Time to get my ass moving.

There were mountains of papers.

I swear to god. Give me a Sherpa and some climbing gear, and I'll knock that Edmund Hillary off the highest peak on the world.

"Hello there Jim." Hondo called from behind the huge stack of files.

"Hondo? Yell louder, I'll pull you out!" A loud chuckle led me to the other side of the desk. Hondo was seated in his executive chair, leg crossed over his knee and hand under his chin.

"Yeah, looks like we have our work cut out for us huh?"

"You could say that again." I said, swinging my arm at the piles. "Jesus Hondo, look at it."

"Don't worry yourself Jim, that is the pile I've already sorted." He grabbed a box from under the desk with about twenty or twenty-five files, and I could practically hear the boulder come off my shoulders.

"Damn Hondo, you scared me for a second." I sighed.

"That was the point." Hondo laughed again and moved towards the door. "Now let's get started. You'll take those ones, I'll take these." He pushed a stack of folders towards me.

Each guy was like the next; all of them had decent scores on academy testing. They had decent records as police officers. No one was outstanding.

"So," Hondo started. "You find anybody special?"

"No, how bout you?" I said, glancing at the clock. It was already two thirty.

"I got nothing." He sighed, propping his head up on his palms.

"Let's just try them all." I offered.

"What do you mean Street?" Hondo said.

"I mean, let's just try one guy, we don't like them. Try the next guy, you know, cycle through till we find what a guy who works with the team." I watched Hondo consider it. I couldn't tell if he thought it was stupid or not, but I was starting to sweat it just a little bit. Finally he went to answer.

"Not a bad idea there Jim."

The first replacement came two days later, Monday. His name was Frank. Frank Guiseppi. And if his name doesn't sound enough like a mobster, you should have seen his long slicked back hair. The guy was Al Capone in the twenty-first century, just on the wrong side.

Any ways, the guy was completely 51/50. It took him two hours to think he was the boss and two minutes to grate my nerves.

"Why do we got to go to the left?" Frank yelled from behind me. I whipped my helmet off.

"Because fucker, like I told you thirty seconds ago, it's a mock up. We have to go left because if we go right, like this," I motioned to the right, hit the trip line, and fired paintballs at myself. "Then that will happen." The rest of the guys moved back as the man pushed lightly on my chest.

"Whoa, slow down there little man, I'm just trying to understand you that's all."

I reared back and nailed him, straight under the helmet in the kisser.

"Hondo," I called out to wherever the he was watching us from. "This guy isn't working for me." His voice came over a hidden PA system.

"Guiseppi."

"Yeah?" The man called, cradling his mouth.

"You heard the man, you're off my team." Guiseppi's face contorted in disgust.

"Hey fucking brainiac, you blind? This asshole hit me first!" He yelled. "If anybody's getting offed, it should be him!" Hondo's calm voice came back over the loudspeaker.

"Get out of my training facility."

"Whatever." The Italian ass called, dropping his gun on the ground and spreading both arms wide. "I'm better than this, and better than you."

"Hey get the fuck out of here." Boxer called, moving towards the man. Boxer had him with probably forty pounds and five inches.

"Yeah, you ain't on our team anymore." Deke nods, crossing his arms.

"Dick." Jesse spat, as Guiseppi walked away.

"And it's Sir next time Guiseppi," Hondo's voice boomed overhead. "Ok guys, go home. We'll try again tomorrow."

"They are dicks Chris, none of them are good enough." I said, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Come on, one of them has to be." She sighed. All I could do was shake my head. We'd been through six different guys, and each one of them was worse than the next. Too macho, too timid, too nervous, too anxious, too crazy, none of them were worthy of filling Chris's space.

"I swear to god Chris, six men, none are even half-way decent for SWAT."

"Fuck," She said tiredly. She had just finished her fourth failed attempt at circling the floor and was once again wiped. "Don't worry, you guys will find somebody."

"Yeah, but how long will it take?"

"Who knows, Jim?" She said, throwing one hand up in the air.

"Let's talk about something else," I said, disgusted with the prospects of our team. "How soon do you think till you get out of here?"

"I don't know, I think I just have to make the floor, and be off morphine and shit. Then maybe," She said.

"Yeah, I give you three days to make it happen."

"Ha! We'll see." She laughed. "Sometimes it feels like I'm never getting out of here."

"No way girl, three days," I repeated, just as my beeper went off. "Remember that."

"You better get going." She said. "I'll talk to you later, tell me what happens."

"Ok, later Chris." I said. I flew down the stairs jumped in my car, rushing towards the PD department.

"What do we got Hondo!" I yelled bursting into the locker room. I was halfway into my kevlar when I noticed no one else was mounting up.

"What's going on?" I asked warily. Deke motioned towards Hondo's office where a heated conversation was currently take place.

"We got a new guy." I looked at him for a second.

"Ok, but why did they beep us all in here?" I asked.

"Fuller picked him. He says this is it. We are stuck with this dude." Jesse said, obviously annoyed, from behind me.

'Hey Boys, I want you all to meet Alex Forman." Fuller said, bursting out of Hondo's office. "He's your new teammate." He had a huge, obnoxious grin on his face. The man who followed him looked like he was straight out of GQ. He had the whole, clean cut look going, and it made me want to throw up. He had that hair. You know what I mean. He spent three hours in the bathroom trying to make it look messy.

The pretty boy offered his hand for a handshake. I took it and forced a smile to my face. It felt like I was shaking hands with a noodle or something. The guy had no grip. Each guy went around and shook hands with him. And each one forced an awkward smile just as I had. Hondo didn't even bother, and just crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Forman here is from the Boston SWAT team." Fuller said as he back his way out of the locker room. "You just get aquainted now, and I'll get going." The man crossed his own arms over his ironed track jacket and smiled.

"Well, boys, how do you run things around here? Which one of you leads this team?" He asked. His voice held a thick accent.

"That'd be me GQ," I said and moved towards my locker to get my stuff. Forman looked me up and down.

"You think you can handle adding me to your team? I'm pretty hot stuff." He scoffed.

"Oh yeah Forman, I think we can handle you." I laughed, and grabbed my backpack from my locker. I pulled my vest back off, strapped the pack tightly to my back. I bid a "later", to the other guys, and made my way from the locker room and back to my car. Out in the parking lot, I was pulling my door open, when I heard a yell.

"Street, wait up!" I turned to see Boxer jogging lightly from the building. I closed the door, and walked to the back of my car.

"Hey Box, what's up man?" I said, leaning into the trunk.

"Can you believe that son of a bitch! I don't want that dick on our team. I mean, can we handle him? What the fuck does that mean?" He said, slowing to a walk.

"Yeah I know what you mean. He's grating my nerves already." I sighed.

"Yeah, well, I guess we'll see how he handles tomorrow," Boxer said. "You want to grab some drinks with me and the guys."

"Hell yeah! Same place?" Finally I got some plain old hang time with the guys. I'd waited too long for this.

"You know it bro. See you in five." He said, back towards his own car.


End file.
